The Curses' Cold Touch
by Silver Ballet
Summary: It's one of the breaks during Tohru's second year of high school and she's already been through a lot with the Sohmas. What happens when an old friend returns to reveal a similar curse? A relationship between the Sohmas and the other cursed family?
1. The Parcel

The Curses' Cold Touch

.::.

Disclaimer: If I owned Fruits Basket, this would not be a fanfic, now would it? I didn't think so.

.::.

Summary: It's the summer after Tohru's first year of high school and she's already been through a lot with the Sohmas. What happens when an old friend returns to reveal a similar curse? A relationship between the Sohmas and the other cursed family?

1.::.The Parcel.::.1

Ever since they've known each her, Tohru would drop a package off at the post office on the last day of every month. This June 30th was no different. No different in this case, at least. As was the norm, Yuki waited for the girl to exit the office with the same smile she walked in with and arms empty of the parcel she had. Tired of guessing with no path to guide, Yuki Sohma decided to inquire on Tohru's monthly sendings. He stood up from the bench on which he was sitting and the two started on their way to Shigure's house. "Honda-san," Yuki said, calling her attention. Once she looked over to him, he continued, "At the end of each month, you drop off a package to send out. If I may ask, who are you sending them to?" Puzzled for a moment or two by his question, her perplexed expression quickly passed onto one of her usual joy, "Oh, right, I haven't told you yet. Three years ago, a dear friend of the family moved away, so every month, I send her letters and a few other things, like snacks that she can't buy in her area." "She moved away?" Yuki repeated once as they approached the house, "Where did she move?" When they got inside, took their shoes off, and said their "hello we're home," Tohru answered him, "She moved to America to stay close to her family. I'm excited, though, because she that she's been saving up her money to visit and, last time she sent me a package, she wrote that she should have enough pretty soon." Obviously, she was happy about this, so Yuki smiled as well.

Tohru took the groceries from Yuki, who had been carrying the bags, and started to put the contents away into the refrigerator when Shigure entered the room, obviously having just woken up from a nap. He hadn't been sleeping well at night recently, though he claimed that it was merely the seasons changing. "So, the two are finally back from their errands," Shigure said before he picked up a small box from the counter, "Later than usual, aren't you?" "Oh, yes, sorry. I had to send out something, so we had to go to the post office for a few minutes," she explained as she finished putting the groceries into the fridge. Shigure looked at the box in his hand. It was a small box, about 10x10x3 cm container, wrapped neatly in a plain black paper. He rose a brow and read the emerald ink off of the white label. "You've been sending them out to America?" He held the box out to offer it to her, "This box came in for you a few minutes after you left. I put it on the counter so I wouldn't forget to give it to you, and here you are." He gave her the box and, upon taking the delivery, Tohru thanked him and lifted the lid off the box. The first thing she saw in the box was a black envelope with white ink written "To my little Tohru-can."

Yuki watched as she set the box down and took a black sheet of paper out of the envelope. "'My little Tohru-chan'?" "Yup! She's older than us, so she used to baby-sit me when I was younger. She and mom were really good friends, so she's almost like a big sister to me," she said before reading the metallic, crimson ink, "'Dear Tohru-chan, I'm pleased to inform you that I have finally gotten enough money to come back; however, I am patiently waiting for an appropriate time to take leave off of work. It's amazing how many girls succumb to heat stroke, especially considering how most of them dress nowadays. Only private schools establish uniforms anymore, so the other schools' dress code enforcements have gone down a steep slide. Pathetic, really. In any case, thank you for the yummy snacks you sent over. I enjoyed them very much, as did my little cousin. I think she likes the chocolates the best, though she won't admit it. She's like a little you, only her eyes remind me of those of a cat's. Anyhow, I've probably been rambling enough. Don't be surprised if I pop out of nowhere. It would be a force of habit. Anyway, ciao for now and I hope to see you soon. Yours dearly, K-chan. PS: I've enclosed some snacks for you and the guys you're staying with. It's not much this time, but it's as much as I could get with the money I'm not saving for my awesome trip. I'll bring some more when I visit. I've got a few other friends I need to see as well, so...yeah.' And it ends there. Don't worry, I didn't tell her your secret. She just wanted to know where I was staying since I wasn't staying with grandpa any more." "It's alright, Tohru-kun," Shigure said, looking the envelope over, "Does she have a place to stay while she's here?" "Oh, yes, I forgot to ask you, but would it be alright if she could stay with us during her visit? It would only be for a couple of weeks. After that, she said she's got some old friends that she could stay with. Though, I don't know if she's asked them yet..." Tohru's volume started to drop as she neared the end of her last statement, but Shigure put on a smile and snwered her question, "I don't see why not. It might be fun to see what kind girl this friend is." "Insanity again, Shigure?" Yuki muttered a little as he looked at the dog. As usual, Tohru smiled, "Thank you, very much!"

The next few days passed as usual, although, there were no fights between the cat and the rat as Kyo was out for two weeks, training once again.

The fifth of July arrived and the sunlight began to peek in through Tohru's window. As she awoke and sat up, she sleepily looked over to her calendar, recognizing this as the day of Kyo's return. The morning smile found its place on her face and she got out of bed to get ready for the day. She figured that she would probably be there by lunch, so she would make something special. Not to mention, she still had some other foods chilling in the fridge for the other visitor who had sent daily letters since her last black parcel. Once she had changed into a blue plated skirt, white t-shirt, and denim vest, Tohru opened the window and felt the warm, summer breeze. From the courtyard below, she heard someone clear his throat before she looked down to see Shigure sitting in front of the small pond. He seemed to be contemplating on something, but Tohru decided to go down and wish him a good morning. She figured that he must not have been able to sleep very well once again, so that was probably exactly was he needed. And that is exactly was she did.

"Good morning, Shigure-san!" Wearing his usual traditional robes, the dog turned to see the chipper high school girl waving a little and walking toward him. He smiled and nodded in response, then turned back to the pond when she took a seat next to him. "Morning. You're up rather early, today," Shigure pointed out as it was only a little after six AM. Tohru nodded, "Yes, once I wake up, I often have trouble going back to sleep. What about you? You haven't been able to sleep very well lately. Have you seen Hatori-san about it?" Shigure sighed, his expression fading a little, "I haven't seen him about it as a doctor, though I did talk to him about it. He said he is having similar problems, though not as badly. I don't think it's anything a check-up could fix." The two sat in silence for a while. Tohru had never seen Shigure act this way in the few months that she had been staying with the Sohmas, whether she knew him well or not. Of course, after nights of not sleeping well, it made sense that he was acting differently. She sat thinking before her grumbling stomach broke the silence and the two were reminded that dinner the previous night was somewhat small and pretty early. "I guess I'd better get started on breakfast, then." With that, she stood and left to leave the dog to sit in solitude once again.

"Shi-kuuuuun!"


	2. An Old Friend

The Curses' Cold Touch

.::.

Disclaimer: If I owned Fruits Basket, this would not be a fanfic, now would it? I didn't think so.

.::.

Summary: It's the summer after Tohru's first year of high school and she's already been through a lot with the Sohmas. What happens when an old friend returns to reveal a similar curse? A relationship between the Sohmas and the other cursed family?

**In the last chapter**, we find that Tohru has been communicating and sending/receiving packages to and from an old friend in America. Kyo is out training, but is to return. Shigure has not been sleeping well! Oh no! Dun dun dunnn..!

.::.

A short chapter this time indeed, and for that I apologize; however...I have no excuse, so I won't lie. The next chapter will be longer, that is a promise. Not like it makes up for this one, but it's just longer. Trust me on this one. ;

2.::.An Old Friend.::.2

"Shi-kuuuuun!!"

Shigure was about to look up to see from where he was called, but a girl jumped into the scene, seemingly from nowhere, and knocked him over, landing on his back. Hidden under short, light brown hair, the tanned face blushed and the girl got off of him. "Sorry 'bout that, Shi-kun!" She said as she frantically dusted the dirt off her black skirt with gloved hands. As Shigure got off the ground, the girl stood up straight, wearing a somewhat nervous smile.

Shigure looked up at her from where he was and his hurt look changed to that of surprise. The girl appeared to be his age, though she had the height and build of a high school girl. She donned black attire, uncluding her boots, stockings, pleated mini-skirt, sleeveless turtle neck, fish net sleeves, and long gloves.

The dog stood up without the disbelief falling from his eyes, "Tii-chan? Is that you?" She winked her right eye and smiled confidently, "The name's Kristi, but Tii-chan still works just as well. Haven't heard it in years, though." "What brings you back?" Kristi was about to answer, but Tohru came outside with her apron on, having heard the noise. "Kristi?" Tohru asked, still standing at the door. "My little Tohru-chan!" Kristi opened her arms and ran to hug Tohru who, in return, hugged her back. "Long time, no see, kiddo!" Kristi smiled as she pulled away from her, looking Tohru up and down, "my, how you've grown! How come you never told, me that you were living with the Sohmas?" As if practiced, both Tohru and Shigure looked at her with the same face of confusion and asked in unison, "You two know each other?" Shifting the bulging messenger bag at her side, Kristi chuckled, "Tohru-chan, remember those friends that I wrote you about? A few of them are old high school buddies that I'm gonna crash with. Those would be the Sohmas. Shi-kun, remember how I baby-sat in high school and I charged less because the little girl's mom was a good friend? That little girl would be our little Tohru-chan! Actually, now that I think about it...Long time, no see, Shi-kun!" Kristi somewhat pranced over and, before Tohru could stop her and Shigure could move away, Kristi's arms were wrapped around his neck in a childish hug. "Sh-Shigure-san...!"

Tohru was prepared to see the tired Sohma transform into a dog within the blink of an eye, but the puff of smoke never came. "Shigure-san...? You...? The...?" Confused by what had happened, Tohru stuttered before thinking to herself, 'Wait...but she's not a Sohma...and she just hugged him...' Red faced, Kristi pulled back and stepped away from Shigure, looking at her hands, then around the area. It was apparent that she was as confused as Tohru. Shigure sighed, "We'd better sit down inside for this..."


	3. The Cursed Meeting

The Curses' Cold Touch

.::.

Disclaimer: If I owned Fruits Basket, this would not be a fanfic, now would it? I didn't think so.

.::.

Summary: It's the summer after Tohru's first year of high school and she's already been through a lot with the Sohmas. What happens when an old friend returns to reveal a similar curse? A relationship between the Sohmas and the other cursed family?

**In the last chapter**, Tohru's American friend finally arrives at Japan and turns out to be an old friend of the Sohmas as well. After years of separation, a barrage of hugs was given, but the curse didn't follow through when she thought it would be fun to hug Shigure! Mystery arises.

3.::.The Cursed Meeting.::.3

"We'd better sit down inside for this..."

A few moments later, the three were inside, sitting at the table with an awkward silence filling the air. The two girls were confused, Kristi looking at her hands and Tohru looking back and forth between the two adults. Shigure was the first to break the silence, "Well, I suppose there's no easy way to explain this..." 'Does K-chan know about the curse? Why didn't Shigure-san transform?' Tohru's mind was racing, but she was still listening as the novelist continued, "Tii-chan's family is cursed as well." Both of the girls' eyes widened in shock. Tohru's "What? K-chan is cursed, too?!" and Kristi's "What?! I didn't...! How'd you know...!?" overlapped each other, but the emotion was apparent. "Like I said, there's no easy way to explain it. Tii-chan, you explain your curse, first," Shigure instructed, trying to think of the best way possible for things to make sense. Still a little confused, the blushing Kristi nodded, looking down at her hands as they fidgeted in her lap, "Um...you see...generations ago, my mother's side of the family was cursed so that whenever we come into direct physical contact with a person of the opposite gender, the twelve cursed members of the family will turn into their respective astrological spirit of the horoscope...such as Pisces, Aquarius, Cancer, and so on. I'm so sorry I've been keeping it a secret for so long, I swear, I didn't mean to. It's just that I was told that if people found out, they would hate me and..." "Tii-chan, calm down, no one here is going to hate you," Shigure reassured her to break her panicked rambling. "You see, the Sohma family is similarly cursed..."

For the next ten minutes, Shigure and Tohru explained to Kristi the Sohma curse and what had happened since Tohru had moved in. Caught up with recent events, Kristi was still watching her fidgeting hands as if embarrassed, "So...how did you know, Shi-kun...how did you know that I was cursed...? I mean, your family knows about the curses...and my family knows about the curses, yet I was unaware..." "A few years ago, our families met and discovered each others' curses. We had a meeting about it, concerning what we would do, and came to a mutual agreement that we would keep each others' secrets as long as we helped the other family when necessary. Needless to say, when Tohru moved in with us, it caused quite a stir with your family as well. During the meeting, though, you..." As if first realizing it, Kristi muttered in a voice so uncharacteristically dry, "_I_ was forbidden to come to the meeting..." "Ne? Why? Why were you not allowed to go to the meeting?" "It's because I'm the bearer of two spirits."

As if from a heart of hatred that neither Shigure nor Tohru had before seen, Kristi explained the curse in detail, "I represent Gemini. The astrological spirits of Castor and Pollux possess me. Since that completely throws off the tens and twelves of the time system, I suppose you could say I am similar to the cat of the Zodiac...Heh, I guess now I know why they all left to vacation here when I was stuck in the hospital with pneumonia. It finally makes sense now..." "But K-chan," Tohru questioned, "if Gemini is an outcast of the horoscope, wouldn't that make eleven spirits?" Kristi nodded, but Shigure beat her to the explanation, "It was decided a long time ago that, in order to balance things out, Libra would be the head and carry the curse, so in a way..." Once again, Kristi interrupted him, "So in a way, Libra is above the other ten are above _me_...!" Kristi's face was once again hidden under the shadows of her bangs as her hands were clutched in fists of rage at her side, "Always making fun of me because the spirits inside of me are arguing, always arguing. It..." Kristi paused for a moment and in the blink of an eye, all tension was released and she smiled, much to Tohru's confusion, as though nothing had happened. "Whoops, sorry 'bout that. I guess it got a little dark there for a moment."

It was then that Yuki came downstairs, a look of both confusion and surprise on his face. "Oh! Good morning, Sohma-kun! Breakfast is...just about..." Tohru, once again, began to trail off before she stood and frantically made her way to the kitchen, exclaiming something about leaving the stove on. As Yuki walked over and took a seat at the table, Kristi looked over to Yuki, wearing a smile, "Why, if it isn't Yu-kun. You've grown up quite well, too. Like a mini Aya-kun." Yuki put on a smile to disguise a temporary spite, "Why are you here?" "Oh, dear, you two still don't get along that well?" Kristi asked. "Shigure, why is she here?" Yuki asked, remembering the relationship between the two families. Kristi's smiled faded from one of fun to one of sincerity, "Calm down, Yu-kun. I am here for personal business and that is all. Had this been filial, Leigh would have been here and I would be wearing more professional attire." Yuki let out a sigh, seemingly of relief when he heard this and Tohru came into the room with breakfast. "Ah, I'm glad it wasn't burned," Tohru smiled as she put two bowls in front of each spot. Kristi looked at the food in front of her, then over to the seated Tohru, "Soba and rice?" "Yeah, we ran out of a lot of stuff since out last trip to the grocery store, but if you want, I was try to find something else for you..." Tohru offered, but Kristi shook her head and claimed, "Such a great welcome home! Thanks much!"

The four finished the noodles and rice and Kristi started to clean up, picking up the empty bowls before Tohru noticed, "Ah, Kristi, don't worry about it, I can..." Kristi shook her head and took the last empty bowl from in front of Tohru, "No, please, allow me. You guys are kind enough to let me stay, the least I can do is help out a bit." With that, Kristi disappeared into the kitchen, trailed by Tohru who was determined to help, leaving the two Sohmas to converse. "Well," Shigure started, "it certainly doesn't _seem_ like she's changed much over the years." "But still," Yuki pondered aloud, "I can't help but wonder what the _real_ reason for her being here is. She was planning on staying with us, even _before_ she found out that we knew Honda-san. Even if she _is_ Kristi, she normally would have dropped at least a _little_ hint about her visit." "She said something about 'personal business.' Do you think she meant that she's here for..." Shigure was interrupted by Tohru's scream after a shattering sound from the kitchen. Without second thought, the two quickly arose and made their way to the kitchen.

"Tohru-chan! Watch out!"


	4. Remembering the Forgotten

The Curses' Cold Touch

.::.

Disclaimer: If I owned Fruits Basket, this would not be a fanfic, now would it? I didn't think so.

.::.

Summary: It's the summer after Tohru's first year of high school and she's already been through a lot with the Sohmas. What happens when an old friend returns to reveal a similar curse? A relationship between the Sohmas and the other cursed family?

**In the last chapter**, Things about a meeting are explained and everyone is finally on the same page. Sort of. There is an outcast of both Eastern _and_ Western horoscopes and the story has been told. The two Sohmas are left to converse before they hear a scream and a crash from the kitchen where the girls are. What has happened? I dunno, but it was enough to make you turn to this chapter.

4.::.Remembering the Forgotten.::.4

"Tohru-chan! Watch out!"

A few bowls fell out of Tohru's arms and shattered on the ground. Of course, with her grace, Tohru lost her balance and started to fall towards the shards, but Kristi pushed her out of the way. After Tohru regained her balance and caught herself, she looked over to the door and saw that Shigure and Yuki had been watching, "Shigure-san! Sohma-kun! Oh!" Remembering the company they had, Tohru quickly shifted her glanced over to Kristi, who was lying on her right shoulder in the cluster of broken ceramic. "Tii-chan!" As Yuki went over to see if Tohru was alright, Shigure helped Kristi up off the floor, "Are you okay?" "Yes," Kristi nodded as she put her left hand over the wounded shoulder, "I'm fine, just a little scrape, that's all." "It's never 'just a little scrape' with you, Tii-chan, let me see it," the dog said as he led her to sit on a stool. Kristi once again removed her hand from the wounds and they caught Tohru's eye, "Oh! K-chan, I'm so sorry! You see, it was my fault! If I had been watching where I was...!" Kristi rose her hand off her lap and Tohru stopped, "Tohru-chan, it's okay. It was no one's fault and accidents _do_ happen. No need to worry 'bout it, 'kay?" Tohru nodded and Shigure looked up from Kristi's shoulder to her face, "Tii-chan, you still have some bags outside, right?" When Kristi nodded, Shigure turned to Yuki and Tohru, "Why don't you two see if you can bring them in while I take care of the trouble maker?" When the two agreed in their own ways, Kristi stuck her tongue out at Shigure, "Trouble maker or not, Shi-kun, you _know_ you enjoy having me over!"

About three minutes later, Tohru and Yuki were walking around the outside of the garden, looking for anything that could resemble Kristi's luggage. "Honda-san, Kristi is the friend you've been mailing?" Yuki asked. With a smile, Tohru nodded, "Right! It's funny how you guys already know her! But Mom used to say that nothing happens by accident. So, if K-chan and Shigure-san knew each other from school, how do you know her? Did she baby-sit you, too?" "Oh," Yuki paused for a moment to think of the best word phrasing, "it seemed that she was always dropping in for one reason or another. Of course, Shigure doesn't think she's changed much, if at all." "I'd have to agree," Tohru giggled, "she did the exact same thing when we were younger." "What happened?" Tohru flipped back through her memories from before Kristi moved away.

_A young Tohru was running away from a small group of boys that had been chasing her._ "I was still about five years old and some boys from my class were chasing me again, so I ran." _Tohru rounded a corner, but when the group turned to follow her, she was hiding behind Kristi who was pointing an umbrella in the face of the lead boy. She was carrying a paper bag in her other hand and was still wearing her high school uniform. "Care to tell me why you're harassing my little Tohru-chan?"_ "She shooed the boys away and started to walk me home," Tohru explained. _With Tohru walking closer to the curb, the two girls were hand-in-hand and talking, "Tohru-chan, you were on your way home?" "Yup! Are you coming over today?" "Ah, yeah, but only for a little while. I was originally planning on fixing my sink today, but your mom came down with a little cold, so I was just out running some errands for her. Eh, I guess my sink can wait until tonight. You want me to come over?" "Oh, yes! You could teach me how to play Dai Hin Mi...!" Tohru's last word turned into a high pitched squeak as her foot slid off the edge of the cur and she started to fall towards a shattered sheet of glass in the road. "Tohru-chan! Watch out!" _"K-chan pushed me out of the way and fell into the glass herself. And then, when she got up, she had cuts on her arms, but she just smiled and asked me if I was alright."_ "I'm so sorry, K-chan! I..." "Tohru-chan, it's okay. It was no one's fault and accidents _do_ happen. No need to worry 'bout it, 'kay?"_ As Tohru finished the story, the two saw a few black bags at the base of a tree. Only to concrete their determination that they were Kristi's, they saw that a bunch of pictures of friends had been patched onto the sides. "There we go."

Meanwhile, Kristi's right glove was balled up on the table while Shigure was wrapping bandages around her shoulder. "Sorry 'bout the mess, Shi-kun. Here, lemme clean it up." Kristi was about to stand up, but Shigure put his hand on her uninjured shoulder, making her sit back down. "Tii-chan, you haven't changed at all since you left us for America," Shigure chuckled as he tied off the last bandage, "Why did you come back?" Kristi put her glove back on as Shigure gathered everything in the first aid kit, "To visit with you guys and Tohru-chan, of course!" Shigure set his elbow on the table top and rested his chin on the back of his hand as he usually did, "If it were that simple, wouldn't you have called us or at least sent a letter? What about the _real_ reason you're here?" The smile vanished from Kristi's face and, sitting directly in front of Shigure, she leaned to her left side to rest her arm on the same table as a sigh escaped though her lips. "I guess ya got me there," she admitted quietly, "I guess there's no point in beating around the bush. During the few years that I was last here, pieces of my memory have disappeared. Just...gone! I can remember clearly every moment that passed though the first six months or so, but everything after that...it's like patchwork." Shigure's brows furrowed as he appeared that his interest has peaked. Kristi continued, "I know it sounds crazy, but it's true. I was sitting in my office a few weeks ago when it hit me. Everything else is crystal clear. I can see every moment around those select forgotten memories. Then, I did the math and realized that I am missing four months, two weeks, six days, and seventeen hours of my life." Shigure laughed a little, "You counted up and remember that amount of time?" As Shigure continued to laugh at her, Kristi frowned before leaning forward to kneel, "Shi-kun, I'm serious! These parts of my life have been wiped clean from my mind and I can't even see the eraser marks that might have been left! And furthermore...!" Kristi was about to go on with her rant before they realized how close their faces were. Kristi blushed and Shigure rose a brow, "Your eyes are green. I thought they were brown." Still in his face and blush on her own, Kristi nodded subtly, "Y-yeah, I got contact lenses last year. Do they...look bad?" "They look good," Shigure clearly muttered, "but I kind of miss your glasses. They were cute." "You...think so...?"

"K-chan! We found your bags!" Redder than ever, Kristi sat back down and looked over towards the entrance a moment before the two teenagers entered the room. Tohru had one bag and Yuki set the other two on the table near Kristi. "How's your shoulder, Kristi?" "Fine, it's fine. Thanks for the concern, Yu-kun. And thanks, you two, for getting my bags for me!" "Don't mention it, K-chan! Eh...by the way, this one is kind of heavy..." Tohru said. "Oh, yes! Gifts!" Kristi reached for the suitcase that Tohru still had and, once it was sitting on her lap, the latch popped off and black boxes of various sizes fell out, "Whoops, I guess I over-packed that one...oh! This one's for you, Tohru-chan!" Kristi handed the girl a small black hinge box, about 1x5x5 centimeters in size, and smiled, "Open it! Open it! I hope you like it!" Curious, Tohru flipped the box open and her eyes widened in are and gratitude, "Oh, K-chan, you shouldn't have! Thank you so much!" On the foam pallet inside the box was a silver locket, two centimeters tall, with rose buds carved on the front and a small diamond in the center. Tohru took it from the box and clasped the silver chain around her neck. After Kristi excitedly told her to see what was inside, Tohru followed her request and opened it to reveal some words on one side and a picture on the other. On the left side was engraved, "To my little Tohru-chan, a gift from K-chan," and on the right was a small picture taken about ten years before at what appeared to be an amusement park. Tohru was being carried bridal style in Kyoko's arms, a pink balloon tied to the little girl's wrist. To the left of Kyoko and Tohru was Kristi, holding two ice-cream cones and smiling meekly. "It's beautiful, thank you so much, K-chan!" Tohru said as the locket clicked closed. "I remember how much fun you had that day, so I went though and found the picture where you had the least ice-cream on your face. Of course...by that time you hadn't _had_ your ice-cream yet," Kristi chuckled as she found a cube shaped box, "Ah! This one is for you, Yu-kun! You like extra sharp, right?" Kristi tossed the box to him and he opened it to see that it was filled with smaller cubes of cheddar cheese, "Thank you...very much..." "I thought you might say that."


	5. The Return

The Curses' Cold Touch

.:♥:.

Disclaimer: If I owned Fruits Basket, this would not be a fanfic, now would it? I didn't think so.

.:♥:.

Summary: It's the summer after Tohru's first year of high school and she's already been through a lot with the Sohmas. What happens when an old friend returns to reveal a similar curse? A relationship between the Sohmas and the other cursed family?

**In the last chapter**, whether they were remembered or not, memories were brought up and tossed around. Just like gifts from America. Kristi got hurt, but that's alright 'cause she's all fixed up. Or is she? In any case, Tohru's narrated flashback proved that Kristi hadn't changed much since she left, and "writer's intuition" seemed to agree. The visitor explained to Shigure the real reason of her return, something about forgotten memories.

5.:♥:.The Return.:♥:.5

Later that night, everyone was asleep in their own rooms. After a long discussion, Kristi had won the debate and got to sleep on her cot on the floor in Tohru's room while the girl slept on her own bed. Kyo had not yet returned, but no one in the house seemed surprised. Yuki seemed glad, in fact, but this didn't strike anyone as a surprise, either.

Lying on her cot, Kristi opened her eyes and looked at the upside-down glowing red numbers of her clock on top of her suitcase with the now-broken-latch. With her tired mind, she couldn't tell whether it read 3:54 or 3:24, but she didn't care and it was dark anyway. She got up with a black bed sheet draped over her shoulders. Her wounds were covered by the long sleeves of her short, black turtle-neck night gown and long black socks covered her legs so she wouldn't get cold. As to not wake Tohru up, Kristi sleepily rubbed her eyes and silently slipped out the door. Still as silent as ever, Kristi walked down the stairs and found herself rummaging though the fridge, looking for the carton of soy milk that she had bought earlier that day. "It seems we both had the same idea," a voice called from behind. With the carton in hand, Kristi jumped and turned around to the speaker, seeing his face by light of the fridge, "Shi-kun! I didn't know you were down here...! Tohru-chan said that you haven't been able to sleep well as of late. Is that why you're here?" Shigure shook his head and rose a glass of water, "Nah, I slept just fine earlier this night. I just came to get a drink. I see that great minds think alike." "Either that or we're both messed up in the head," Kristi said before drinking some soy milk out of the red carton. "You haven't changed a bit since we last saw each other." "That's what you think," Kristi smirked between sips, "Why are you in the dark, anyway?" "I wasn't planning on staying up all night, but if you want to, we can—" "Don't be crude," she laughed as she lightly pushed him. "You know you want to," Shigure joked, "you weren't exactly jumping away during that little romantic moment before the kids came home." "Ha! Here you are, you still babble on about—who knows what?—even this early in the morning! And you say _I_ haven't changed," Kristi returned. "I'm not babbling, just trying to bring back what could've been..." "Shh. What was that...?!" Kristi put her hand over Shigure's mouth. Muffled, of course, he tried to speak, "What was what?" The two were silent for a few moments before they heard the sliding door slide shut. "That!" She whispered. Foot steps were heard walking towards the kitchen and Kristi jumped back to hide behind Shigure while peeking over his shoulder at the same time. Before they could react, the lights were flipped on.

"What the hell is _she_ doing here?!" Dressed in a grey t-shirt and black bondage pants, Kyo stood in the door way, his hand on the light switch. Shigure quietly laughed at Kristi for getting so worked up over Kyo's return and she sighed of relief, somewhat ignoring her amused friend until she jokingly pushed his shoulder. "It's nice to see you, too, Kyo-kun," Kristi smiled, pulling the bed sheet tighter around her shoulders as a slight chill ran up her spine. "Tii-chan is simply here to visit us for a few weeks," Shigure explained, "and guess where she's staying!" Kyo stared blankly at the two before he shook his head and turned to walk away, "I'm going to my room...and I'm going to sleep..." "Oh, right," Kristi remembered, "I've got a few gifts for you, Kyo-kun, but they're upstairs in my bag. If she didn't wake up at your housewarming greeting, I don't want to wake Tohru-chan up." "Eh?" Kyo stopped walking and turned his head to see the two out of the corner of his eye, "'Tohru-chan'? Are you two that close of friends already? When did you get here?" "About twelve years ago," Shigure said, "It's a long story and you must be tired. Go to sleep and we'll tell you about it in the morning." Kyo shrugged it off and walked to his room after muttering almost inaudibly, "Whatever."

All joking aside, Kristi looked over to the light hearted writer and advised, "You'd better get some sleep, too, Shi-kun. You're still trying to catch up on Zs from not sleeping well, right?" Shigure nodded, and then turned around to face the girl who had just finished off her glass of soy milk, "Maybe, but before I do that, there's something you ought to know." "Eh? What's that?" "There's a big hole in your bed sheet." "Huh? Where?" Kristi raised her arms into the air and looked down, searching for any hole in the fabric while Shigure reached over and pinched her sides. This caused her to jump a bit with a quiet, yet high pitched squeak and Shigure slid off towards his room, giggling and speaking in a sing-song manner, "Haven't changed at all, Tii-chan. Haven't changed at all." Remembering that he always used to do the same thing in various ways back when they attended school together, Kristi sighed, shook her head, and mentally smacked herself for falling for that trick once again. "Stupid dog."

The next morning, Tohru walked downstairs to find Kyo, Shigure, and Yuki sitting at the kotatsu, watching TV, and eating slices of some fruit from the bowl at the center of the table top. "Oh, Kyo, you're here! Welcome back!" Tohru smiled to get something for a "thanks" from Kyo. "Does he know about...?" "Yes, Yuki and I explained everything to him about an hour before you came down. Tii-chan and I found him sneaking into the kitchen to eat all of the leftover miso and leeks from a few nights ago," Shigure kidded before Kyo's fist slammed onto the table. Once again, as usual, orange cat ears seemed to poke out from under his just-as-orange hair. "I was _not_! I heard something from the kitchen when I came in and found you and that woman in the dark!" Yuki rose a brow, "Speaking of Kristi-san, she's still in the kitchen isn't she?" "Oh no...is she cooking?" Tohru asked before Yuki answered, "We don't know. We tried to get her out of there, but she didn't want to leave. Could you see if you can take her out?" Tohru nodded with a strong sense of duty, "Y-yes! I'll try my best!" On her way to the kitchen, Tohru's walked seemed to be closer to a march. Kristi had never been that great in the kitchen which often led to fires and the occasional small explosion. The house was already suffering enough as per Kagura's visits and conflicts between Yuki and Kyo. Shigure didn't need a rice-burner-bomb to be the demise of his kitchen to boot.

Tohru found Kristi standing at the counter, in front of the rice cooker. Her hair was messily tied back in a low ponytail and she was still cloaked in her black bed sheet. Tohru assumed that she was still in her pajamas. She looked closer and saw that next to the rice cooker was a tray full of various flavored onigiri. At least, it _looked_ like they were _supposed_ to be onigiri. Thinking of the forms of combustion that could possibly happen, Tohru made herself dizzy, "U-um, Kristi...?" "No, don't make me leave yet," the crazy—tired?—woman in black yawned, "I'm trying to make onigiri. I'm done with the cooking and nothing went into flames..." Tohru looked around and, seeing as how Kristi was right, nodded and left her to her onigiri molding—which, by the way, wasn't any good at all. The onigiri seemed deformed beyond most recognition. While it was obvious that they were different flavored and _edible_, the triangular shape of the _typical_ onigiri was far from acquired. "She's trying to make onigiri," Tohru explained as she joined the others at the kotatsu. Kyo then muttered something to himself to emphasize the word _trying_. Shigure's eyes widened and his glance shot up at Tohru, "She hasn't blown anything up again, has she?" Tohru smiled and shook her head, "Everything is fine and she's done with the cooking. K-chan is trying to mold them now." "_Trying_," Yuki emphasized, "Shigure, what were you and Kristi-san doing last night in the kitchen, anyway?" Shigure sighed, as if in reminiscence, "Ah, we had a little romance before..." Before he could finished, Kristi seemed to enter the room in a flash and smacked Shigure up-side the head with a hand-held wooden sign with a popping vein painted in black. When Shigure leaned forward and his head hit the table, Kristi sat down next to him, childishly put her elbows on the table, rested her chin on her clasped fists, and smiled cheerfully, "I went downstairs for some soy milk and this moronic moron here was already in the kitchen with a glass of water." With his head still on the table, "Do you see what she does to me, Tohru-kun...?" "Don't whine, Shi-kun, you're supposed to be an adult. It's rather pathetic," Kristi pointed out, "besides, it's not very attractive." "Maybe we should try to take the hostility down a notch, K-chan," Tohru suggested, causing Shigure to sit back up and stick his tongue out at her. Kristi shot a playful, yet somewhat deadly, glance at Shigure and then smiled at Tohru, "If you say so, Tohru-chan. Oh! Tohru-chan, you're wearing the locket I gave you!" Tohru nodded and held the heart shaped locket in her hand.

"Don't you have one, too, Kristi-san?" Yuki asked. Kristi nodded and pulled out an identical locket that was hiding behind her collar, "Kyoko-san gave me this one on the day I moved away. I took it to the shop and had it doubled to make the one I gave you, Tohru-chan. The engraving on mine is different, though. Mine says, 'To my best friend Tii-chan,' and then she engraved her signature on it and signed your name, too. Mine has the same picture and everything." "No wonder it looked so familiar," Tohru said. Kristi opened her mouth to speak, but she heard a beeping noise coming from Tohru's bedroom upstairs, "Oh! I've gotta take Tohru-chan shopping!" As Kristi shot upstairs, Tohru reached after her a bit, "You really don't have to..." A few minutes later, Kristi came down in similar attire as the previous day, only there were silver buckles lined up and down her boots, skirt, and gloves, "You ready to go, Tohru-chan?" "K-chan, you really don't have to take me shopping," Tohru said with a smile before Kristi shook her head, "Nonsense, I said I would take you shopping and I meant it." "Do you mind if I invite myself, Tii-chan?" Shigure asked, "After all, you'll need someone to help carry your things for you." "Fine by me," Kristi said and turned to Kyo and Yuki, "You two wanna come along, too?" "No thanks," was heard from both of them and before they knew it, the three were gone.

.:♥:.

Halyu! Been a while since I left an Author's Note, so here goes it:

This chapter was exceedingly long...or at least compared to the other chapters I have written so far. For those who like short chapters, I apologize. The name of this chapter was originally going to be "Day One," so I, of course, had to try to fit Day One in this chapter. Because I am lazy, I did not feel like trying, so I am going to end up making the first full day longer than one chapter. Go me? Not really.

Also, once I am able to get my scanner to work, I shall post up pictures of Len, Lin, well...all of the characters that belong to me will be linked from this story. Happy? If not, do not follow the links, hm? I may even draw a picture of Kristi hitting Shigure-san with the wooden sign. Although I usually do not draw characters I did not create; however, it may prove to be too tempting. Until then, read if you will.

♥KP Wench♥

Also, I have learned how to do the ♥s, so you will be seeing a lot of ♥s from now on.


	6. More Than a Souvenir

The Curses' Cold Touch

.:♥:.

Disclaimer: If I owned Fruits Basket, this would not be a fanfic, now would it? I didn't think so.

.:♥:.

Summary: It's one of the breaks during Tohru's second year of high school and she's already been through a lot with the Sohmas. What happens when an old friend returns to reveal a similar curse? A relationship between the Sohmas and the other cursed family?

**In the last chapter**, Kyo has finally returned during the first night of Kristi's visit. The next morning, Shigure's house is spared a decent beating from Kristi's cooking talents and she decides to take Tohru shopping, just as she had promised. Shigure has decided to invite himself and before anyone knows it, they're gone.

.:♥:.

Author's Note: I've decided to change the setting to during the second year of high school for our favorite trio. Tohru didn't know Ayame in her first year and Ayame is kind of an important person to mention now and then if Kristi used to hang out with the Sohmas in high school… ¬¬;;

6.:♥:.More Than a Souvenir.:♥:.6

"Tohru-chan! Let's go in here first!" Kristi exclaimed, dragging Tohru into a shop by the wrist, Shigure following not too far behind. "U-um, sure!" Tohru agreed as if she had a choice. A few moments later, Shigure and Tohru were standing by the dressing rooms, watching Kristi bounce back and forth through the store. "Is K-chan," Tohru started, "_always_ this hyper when she goes shopping?" Shigure nodded with a smile as he continued to watch the eccentric American, "Yes, unless she's alone, that is." "Huh?" "A Gemini can seldom spend any time alone," Shigure explained, "The same goes, even moreso for Tii-chan, since she resembles the sign." "But she was always going off by herself to go shopping when she was asked to," Tohru remembered. Shigure nodded once again, "And I suppose adaptability is another trait of the Gemini. The will to change with every turn of the wind though, such has been the case with Tii-chan, can come dangerously close to conformity." "Tohru-chan!" With an armload of clothing, Kristi handed a larger armload to Tohru, "here! Try these on! Shi-kun, you can be the judge. And don't just say 'it leaves too much for the imagination' like you usually do." "I haven't said that to you in years!" Shigure tried to defend himself, but Kristi sent a smirk over to him, "That, my friend, would be because you haven't seen me in years."

About an hour later, Shigure and Kristi were sitting on a bench in front of the dressing rooms of another store. While Tohru was still trying on clothes, Kristi had already bought and changed into a black yukata with a dark violet obi, so she somewhat matched Shigure's style of attire, though in a darker tone. "Tohru-kun has been in there for a while," Shigure said, "How many clothes did you give her?" "Not that many," which was a blatant lie, "I just gave her a few." "A few what?" Shigure asked, "Trunk loads?" Kristi nodded with a chipper expression and somebody called her name, "Kristi!" Both Kristi and Shigure turned to see a blonde woman waving at them. Before they knew it, she was a mere few feet away. Kristi quickly got up and gave the girl a hug, "Kelly!" The girl was a little bit shorter and about a year younger. Her hair went well with the blue-grey eyes that hid behind narrow, frameless glasses. She wore a white tank top under a light grey zip-up sweater, and a matching grey denim pleated mini-skirt—of course the grey denim Keds to go along with the outfit. "Shi-kun, you remember my little sister Kelly, don't you?" Kristi smiled as she turned to face Shigure and held her hand out in front of Kelly as if she were on display. "Of course I remember!" Shigure put on that smile before addressing Kelly, "You've changed since I last saw you." "That's right," she said, "I dyed my hair, isn't it cool?" "I haven't seen you since…early junior high, wasn't it?" Shigure tried to remember. "I was in my last year of elementary school, remember?" Kelly reminded him, "You remember the meeting, right?" All of a sudden, Kristi's eyes narrowed and she smiled to contain her anger, "The meeting…how come you never told me, Kelly?" In a little more than a single movement, Kristi put her debit card in Shigure's hand and started to walk away, "I'm walking to the house. Let Tohru-chan get what she wants and tell her I'm sorry." "Crap," Kelly muttered, "Maybe I shouldn't have brought that up…"

Kristi left the mall and found that the grey sky had been blanketed by he just as grey clouds that spilled the cold rain onto the lightly flooding ground. She hadn't packed an umbrella and she was probably the only one from the Sohma house who didn't know that it would rain, so she trudged along the sidewalk, soon finding herself soaked. She sighed and a small gust of wind seemed to rush upon her, allowing her (1) more chills and (2) more rain. The water rushed down the side of the road in the gutter (it somewhat reminder her of a white river rafting trip she took a few years ago) and a black sedan sped quickly passed her, a wall of water spraying at her. To her, it seemed almost cliché, like in the movies, whenever the protagonist had just experienced something that affected them deeply and sorrowfully, the sky suddenly turned dark and the rain poured down like the sky was falling. But, this was no movie to her. Just an afternoon walk with the clouds raining above her, giving something to mix with the tears that ran down her cheeks. She was now thoroughly soaked—even moreso than before—but she was surprised to see that the car stopped and went in reverse to halt beside her. Through the passenger window, she saw a face that she recognized as the back door unlocked. Suddenly, Kristi's day got ten times worse and she stepped into the car before it drove off.

**_Oh, Kyoko-san…_**

WB14845

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	7. Missing

The Curses' Cold Touch

.:♥:.

Disclaimer: If I owned Fruits Basket, this would not be a fanfic, now would it? I didn't think so.

.:♥:.

Summary: It's one of the breaks during Tohru's second year of high school and she's already been through a lot with the Sohmas. What happens when an old friend returns to reveal a similar curse? A relationship between the Sohmas and the other cursed family?

**In the last chapter**, the three went shopping and Shigure explains to Tohru a few of the many attributes that the Gemini harbors. Understanding her friend that much more, she is soon overwhelmed with loads of clothes chosen out by Kristi herself. While she is trying them on, Kristi's little sister arrives and suddenly reminds them of the meeting between the two families. Why didn't Kelly tell Kristi about the meeting? Kristi doesn't know, either, so she decides to storm off. Moral of the story: don't get into random cars when you're alone. But, then again, she recognized the driver. Who is it! Read and you'll find out.

.:♥:.

**Author's Note**: Thank you all who have reviewed. I feel so loved, my happiness is just through the roof right now. Kinda like my blood sugar!

I thank you for your comments. It all started when I was doing an essay on the different Zodiacs and knowing that…bah, you don't care. Keep on reading!

7.:♥:.Missing.:♥:.7

After Kelly drove Tohru and Shigure to the house as an apology, the two found Yuki sitting at the kotatsu, reading a book about gardening. He looked up to see them, but the three that he was expecting was a mere two, "Welcome back." When a few moments had passed, ensuring that Kristi was not behind them, he asked, "Where's Kristi-san?" "Didn't she say that she was walking here?" Tohru asked in response. Shigure nodded, "And she spent the last of her cash on her yukata, I have her credit card, so she couldn't have gone to any other store or anything…" "Could she have gone back to visit Sohma house?" Yuki asked before Tohru's eyes widened and she ran upstairs. A few second later, Shigure shook his head, "She wouldn't have gone back all wet like that," he lifted up a couple of shopping bags, "and aside from what she's wearing now, these are all of her…" "She's gone," Tohru said as she walked down the stars, "She came in through my window, took her things, and climbed back out. Shigure-san, it's just as you said, she hadn't changed at all. She did the same thing three years ago. I woke up one morning and she was gone. Without a word, she just left." "But didn't your mom give the locket to her on the day she left?" "She did. Mom left before K-chan did and she met her at the airport as a surprise," Tohru remembered. Shigure sighed, "Well, she's already left, so there's nothing we _can_ do but hope she gets home safely."

The next day, Shigure was at Hatori's, explaining everything that had happened concerning Kristi's visit. "So, let me get this straight," Hatori said, his expression as stoic as ever, "Kristi came to visit you, spent one night at your house after you told her about _our_ curse, and then she just left after you went shopping and met up with Kelly." "Right," Shigure nodded, "I was going to bring her here today, but she disappeared. Again." "Again," Hatori repeated before going on, "You know she isn't supposed to find out. Don't you remember what happened last time?" "Of course I remember," Shigure assured him, "That's why I was going to bring her here today. Before anything else could happen." The two were quiet for about thirty seconds for the information to settle before Hatori broke the silence, "And what about Leigh? What'll happen?" "That's why I'm so worried. Leigh is so unpredictable, she's dangerous." "You know Akito will be furious when he finds out." "That's why he _won't_ find out."

After Shigure left Sohma house, he made his way back to his own house, his eyes watching the scenery he walked by while his mind was else where. For a moment or two, he had actually though that his recent period of bad sleep was due to Kristi's unannounced plans of a visit since while she would be at his house, he would sleep well—but since she had gone, he still slept well. It was mere coincidence. "Was she there? Did you find her?"

Shigure's thought was interrupted by the girl who met him at the door as he walked in through the front door. "No," Shigure answered, "I explained everything to Haa-san, but he hadn't seen her, either. I take it you haven't been able to reach her via phone?" Kyo was standing at the small table, the phone to his ear, speaking along with Kristi's voice mail message, "_Hey, this is Kristi. I'm out poking badgers with spoons right now. Leave a message and I'll call you back. TTYL!_ Kristi, why the hell aren't you answering your phone! We've…" "Kyo-kun, I don't think she can hear you," Tohru said as she and Shigure joined him by the phone. "Oh, right," Kyo said as he put the phone down on its cradle. "Tohru-kun," Shigure said, "you said this morning that you needed to do some shopping, didn't you?" "Oh! Yes, I do," Tohru remembered. Shigure smiled, "Alright, Kyo-kun, why don't you help Tohru-kun carry her stuff?" "Why don't _you_ help Tohru carry her stuff?" Kyo asked, his eyes narrowing. Shigure's smile stayed, "I have some business to tend to." "Whatever," Kyo muttered. A few minutes later, the two left and Shigure picked up the phone.


	8. Leigh

The Curses' Cold Touch

.:♥:.

Disclaimer: If I owned Fruits Basket, this would not be a fanfic, now would it? I didn't think so.

.:♥:.

Summary: It's one of the breaks during Tohru's second year of high school and she's already been through a lot with the Sohmas. What happens when an old friend returns to reveal a similar curse? A relationship between the Sohmas and the other cursed family?

**In the last chapter**, well, Kristi is still missing. Well, she did go home, right? But, there's something wrong. Now, Kyo, Shigure, Tohru, and Yuki are looking for her. But, to no avail. Shigure has told Hatori what happened, but Hatori had brought up something that had happened in the past, but what was it? Had he known, Akito would be furious, but who is Leigh?

8.:♥:.Leigh.:♥:.8

**_Stay with me, even after…_**

From the inside of a black drawstring bag, a phone chimed the tune of "Tango to Evora" elaborately. "Lemme go!" the Gemini screamed. Her hands were taped together behind the back of the wooden chain to which she was tied, "Dammit, Leigh, let me outta this chair!" A woman walked into the motel room where Kristi was being held and smiled. Despite the cigarette hanging from her mouth, she looked strikingly like an older Kristi. She was the same height and build and, although it was a few inches longer and much neater, her hair was the same volume and color. One difference, however, was that her narrow brown eyes were colder—much colder—than those of Kristi. "But Kristen," the woman said with a calm voice, "then I won't be able to know what I want to know. Don't you want to talk to me, Kristen?" "Hell no," Kristi coldly responded. "Is that so?" The woman asked before her brows furrowed and she madly smirked. She took the cigarette out of her mouth and pressed the lit end on Kristi's arm after tearing her glove off her arm. Kristi cringed as the cigarette burned her skin, "Ahh! Damn Libra!" Before she could open her eyes, Kristi felt Leigh backhand her, almost knocking her and her chair over, "That's right," Leigh said as Kristi roughly looked back over to her, "Now, tell me why you left for Japan without telling me!" "I…" Kristi muttered before she turned to an almost sinister chuckle, "Leigh, I didn't tell you that I was coming here. What makes you think I'll tell you my reason?"

It was then that three figures stood at the doorway. The tallest one Kristi recognized as her younger cousin who had just graduated out of high school. Her father was Chinese and it certainly showed in her black hair, dark eyes, and pale skin. Her name was Mao-Lin Ling and she was possessed by Demeter, the spirit of Virgo. The shortest one had fiery red hair with brown eyes. She wore a long flowing black skirt and a long sleeved white dress-shirt. Kristi knew this girl as Alexis Bahay, AKA Lex, the bearer of Antares, the spirit of Scorpio. Lastly, Kelly was the other girl and Kristi remembered her younger half sister. She represented Taurus the bull, so it was apparent that the two girls shared the same mother. "Leigh, we brought food!" Mao-Lin smiled. For once, Leigh's smile seemed just as sincere, "Ramen? Thanks for getting some. Want some Ramen, Kristi?" "Bite me," Kristi snapped as Kelly's eyes softened before Leigh calmly responded, "That won't be necessary.

Later that night, Kristi was asleep in the chair that she had been tied to, but she awoke sharply when her phone started ringing again. For a moment, she was reminded of what had happened the previous night when she had first disappeared. _Leigh's narrow eyes narrowed even more as she saw the bandages on the bound girl's arm, "Kristen, what happened?" But all Kristi did was glare at her. "Kristen, what happened to your shoulder!" "I fell," Kristi told her, "and a friend bandaged me up." "A friend…a Sohma!" "So what if he is!" Kristi screamed back before Leigh fumed, "Kristen! Don't…!" It was funny how Kelly, Lex, and Mao-Lin had their ways of appearing and interrupting events right when something big or important was about to happen and that's what they did._ Kristi snapped out of her flashback when her phone stopped ringing and she saw a flash of red hair before she felt someone cutting her ties free. "Eh!" Kristi looked behind her from the corner of her eye, "Lex!" "Shh."  
the red-head whispered, "We put sleeping pills in Leigh's Ramen, so she should be out until around noon. You, however, managed to cut yourself free and escape. Do not answer your cell phone when you're out there for it might be Leigh." Once the girl was free, she flicked her wrists back and forth, "Hey, thanks, Lex." "Don't mention it," Alexis said as she took a couple of Kristi's bags and opened the door, "Come on. I'll drive you to the Sohmas'. After breaking into their house, it's the least I can do." "Actually, the least you can do is nothing, but…" "Would you rather stay here?" "Coming!"


	9. A Reunion

The Curses' Cold Touch

.:♥:.

Disclaimer: If I owned Fruits Basket, this would not be a fanfic, now would it? I didn't think so.

.:♥:.

Summary: It's one of the breaks during Tohru's second year of high school and she's already been through a lot with the Sohmas. What happens when an old friend returns to reveal a similar curse? A relationship between the Sohmas and the other cursed family?

**In the last chapter**, the three went shopping and Shigure explains to Tohru a few of the many attributes that the Gemini harbors. Understanding her friend that much more, she is soon overwhelmed with loads of clothes chosen out by Kristi herself. While she is trying them on, Kristi's little sister arrives and suddenly reminds them of the meeting between the two families. Why didn't Kelly tell Kristi about the meeting? Kristi doesn't know, either, so she decides to storm off. Moral of the story: don't get into random cars when you're alone. But, then again, she recognized the driver. Who is it! Read and you'll find out.

9.:♥:.A Reunion.:♥:.9

It was about 2:14 in the morning and Shigure had finally fallen asleep at the phone. He was sitting on the ground, leaning on the wall and his head was tilted sleepily to the left, but his head was readily on the telephone, just in case if might have rung. "Meep!" With that and a thud, Shigure woke up and stood before looking around. "Hey, thanks again, Lex! I'll see ya later!" "Be quiet, you dolt, or else you'll wake everyone up…!" "Oh, right. See ya." "Try not to get caught again. I don't know how long Leigh and the rest of us will be here." The door was slid shut and the black sedan was heard as it drove away. The dog walked into the front room and, but the dim light outside, he saw Kristi setting a lamp (the one she knocked over) on a side table. "Tii-chan?" "Hey," Kristi smiled a little as she turned to face him, "I'm back." Before anything else could happen, Kristi was pulled in close and Shigure's arms were protectively wrapped around her. "Don't disappear like that again," he said quietly, "You had me so worried." Another chill ran along her spine, but the blush on her face proved that she wasn't just cold. "Sorry," the girl said as she returned the embrace, "I won't."

The next morning, Tohru found the two at the kotatsu. Shigure was on one side, looking through the photo albums that covered most of the table. Kristi, on the other hand, was also on the other side of the table, her arms crossed on the surface to create a pillow for herself. "Shigure-san," Tohru said before the dog looked up, "Good morning! You found K-chan?" "No," Shigure smiled, "Tii-chan came back at around two this morning. Kyo-kun came down a few hours after that and gave her an earful about leaving without notice. It was actually pretty funny." "Oh, Kyo-kun came down already?" "Only momentarily," Shigure said as he closed the album he had just finished and opened another one, "he left early today. You guys start school again, right?" Tohru looked at Shigure for a few seconds as she had just realized what day it was, "Is it already Monday!" "Yes," Shigure nodded, "Yesterday was the last day of break, wasn't it?" Tohru sighed, "Yeah, I suppose it was. Well, if you'll excuse me, I've got to change into my uniform." With that, Tohru bowed a little before she turned to go back upstairs to change. It wasn't more than ten minutes later that both she and Yuki left for school."

"Kristi is back in Japan?" Momiji asked with his usual high level of energy, "Is she staying with you guys at Shigure's house?" "Yeah, she is," Tohru nodded without parting from her usual high level of joy, "K-chan disappeared for a while, but she's back at Shigure's not. She was asleep when we left. "So, Kristi's back, huh?" Arisa repeated, "Hana and I just might have to stop by and see her." "Right. It must have been at least three years since we last saw her," Saki agreed, "We may have to stay another weekend." It was then that Kyo joined them on the roof, "So, why's everyone coming over?" "'Cause none of us had seen Kristi in years," Haruhatsu answered, "that's okay, isn't it?" "Which reminds me," Saki started, "I have to see the teacher about something. Arisa, Tohru, do you want to come with?" The two girls agreed and went downstairs after saying their good-byes. "You guys coming over should be fine," Yuki said, but I don't think you should say anything about it at the main house. At least…not yet." "But why not? Aya would probably want to see her too," Momoji said, "I'm sure he misses her just as well." "_Especially_ not that bastard!" Kyo snapped, remembering that morning he woke up to find the eccentric snake next to him the last time he visited, "There's _no way_ he's coming back to Shigure's!" "Even so," Haruhatsu agreed, "what's so bad about the rest of the house finding out?" "…because she knows," Kyo explained, "she found out on the day she came back from America. When she disappeared the other day, she was sort of kidnapped by Leigh." At that moment, all moods seemed to sink. "So Leigh is in Japan, too, then," Haruhatsu said. Yuki nodded before Momiji said his piece. "It's just a repeat of what happened that last time she was here." "And Shigure knows it more than anyone."


	10. Memories

The Curses' Cold Touch

.:♥:.

Disclaimer: If I owned Fruits Basket, this would not be a fanfic, now would it? I didn't think so.

.:♥:.

Summary: It's one of the breaks during Tohru's second year of high school and she's already been through a lot with the Sohmas. What happens when an old friend returns to reveal a similar curse? A relationship between the Sohmas and the other cursed family?

**In the last chapter**, alright, so we still don't exactly know who Leigh is…and we still don't know much else about the relation between the two curses. What the hell happened! Well, I don't think we'll find that out for a while, but I can certainly play with your minds in the meantime.

10.:♥:.Memories.:♥:.10

"Hey, Tii-chan," Shigure called, "look at this one!" Kristi walked into the room, carrying a tray with two cups and a small kettle, to join him at the kotatsu. Her eyes on the album that Shigure had open, she set the tray on the table before sitting next to him. "What's this one?" Kristi asked as she handed him a cup filled with whatever was in the kettle. "Thanks," Shigure smiled before he turned his attention back to the photo album, "Our second year of high school, remember?" Kristi's eyes scanned the pages that were open and she saw pictures of Hatori, Ayame, Shigure, and herself. "Aw! We were all so cute!" "Were?" Shigure smirked once again, "I don't know about _you_, Tii-chan, but some of us are still cute." "Pff," Kristi said as she lightly and playfully pushed his head, "Don't you wish, dog boy?" "Wishes _do_ come true, Tii-chan." Shigure said as he pushed her just as lightly in return. Kristi chuckled and turned her attention back to the photo albums. "Oh, hey! I remember this one!" Shigure looked at the picture at which, by this point, Kristi was pointing and laughed, "Of course!" They were looking at a picture where a young Shigure was sitting down, smiling at the camera and oblivious to Kristi on his right: falling toward him with two cups of soda in her hands, neither of which would be spared in gravity's attack. By the people, stands, and rides in the background, one would easily—and correctly—guess that the two were at a carnival. "You'd been so nice that week—it was another Golden Week—and you paid for my ticket and you brought me to the movies and paid for everything," the girl recollected, "I felt like buying you a drink would be good. Heh. Little did I know that you'd be wearing it before you even got it." The two continued to laugh at her. When the laughter had faded, Shigure looked at Kristi and his smile become more sincere, "You know, you looked exactly like Tohru does now. Almost like a big sister." Kristi blushed a little and chuckled again, "Nah. Tohru's cute. _Very_ cute. I was just a plain girl in high school." "My, but that's where you're wrong." Kristi's blush could only deepen in response. "S-Shi-kun, I—"

The doorbell rang and Shigure's childish smile returned before he got up and left to answer the door. Still red faced, Kristi sighed and turned her head to the table top, _my heart is still pounding_, Kristi thought to herself, _but why does this feeling seem so familiar? Why does it feel like I've done this before?_ "Huh?" Kristi's eyes were caught on a photo album at the bottom of one of the piles. The spine was labeled High School – Third Year – Last Dance. It wouldn't have seemed so strange hadn't it been written in her own handwriting. _I…I thought I couldn't go to the last dance. I had to work. Didn't I?_ The Gemini asked as she carefully removed it from the pile. She opened the cover and saw four pictures of the dance hall, the center picture would be one of the banner that read _Good-Bye Seniors!_ A small smile found its way to her face as she turned the page to see two full pbody pictures, one of each a young Ayame and a young Hatori, both in tuxedos. The grin of joy, however, faded to a look of both confusion and shock as her eyes reverted to the next page. The picture took up the entire sheet, which only seemed to shock her more since, because of her handwriting commenting on the pictures here and there, she thought much of this particular one so much as to blow it up and place it in a position of importance. "If this actually happened…how come I cannot remember it…?"

_**I've forgotten everything…**_


	11. Girl Interrupted

The Curses' Cold Touch

.:♥:.

Disclaimer: If I owned Fruits Basket, this would not be a fanfic, now would it? I didn't think so.

.:♥:.

Summary: It's one of the breaks during Tohru's second year of high school and she's already been through a lot with the Sohmas. What happens when an old friend returns to reveal a similar curse? A relationship between the Sohmas and the other cursed family?

**In the last chapter**, Shigure and Kristi were looking at photo albums. w00t! The doorbell rings and when Shigure leaves, Kristi finds an album, labeled and commented in by herself, but for such an important event—the Last Dance, Senior Farewell—why can she not remember it? Her mind is stuck on one large picture, but the chapter ended before I could tell you what—or who—it was a picture of. Keep reading. You might learn something. .

A note to user "i love athrun": You asked for a new chapter?

11.:♥:.Girl Interrupted.:♥:.11

"Why can I not remember this?"

She was looking as a picture of her younger self and the younger Shigure. Like Ayame and Hatori, Shigure was wearing a black tuxedo. Kristi was wearing a dark purple and black dress that could have been mistaken for that of a princess. The dress itself was black and the ribbons and such that decorated it were dark violet, just like the long gloves that covered her arms. To surprise her even more, she had a silver tiara on her head and Shigure wore a small crown that seemed to pair with Kristi's. Above their heads was a banner that prestigiously read _King and Queen: Shigure Sohma and Kristi Hall!_ "I was…Senior Queen…?" Wanting to get a closer look at the picture, she gently pulled it off of the page from the heart shaped stickers placed on each of the corners.

She turned the picture over to see both her and Shigure's handwriting against the white back. She was about to read it, but as she heard Shigure coming back, she jumped. After shoving the picture into the left sleeve of the black yukata she wore, Kristi put the now closed book on the bottom of the nearest pile, and turned around just in time to see the dog enter the room. "Tii-chan, that carnival that we went to so many years ago is open again this year. Wanna go?" Shigure offered, "My treat." The blush slowly fading from her face, Kristi smiled, "S-sure!"

A while later, it was something around noon, Shigure and Kristi found themselves at a small café table in front of an empty shop at the carnival from the picture that they were before laughing at. Each of them had a cup of Bubble Tea in front of them. "Of course I've read _and _bought your books! Well, actually, I'm missing one of them…oh, what was that one…? I think it was one of your earlier books…" "Stoic Embrace?" "That's it!" Kristi said, quickly and energetically extending her arm to point at Shigure. Of course, she blushed a cute pink when she realized that her little burst of energy had hit Shigure in the head. Literally. With a tint of red on his cheek where she had hit him, Shigure looked up at Kristi from under his bangs and Kristi laughed nervously as she pulled her arm back, holding her hands under the table and in her lap, "Heh heh. Sorry, Shi-kun. It was an accident, I swear." "Don't worry about it," Shigure chuckled, "Besides, I couldn't stay mad at you if I tried. In any case, I wrote that one not too long after you left for America." "Oh!" Kristi said, remembering to ask him something that she had put off until now, "That reminds me. How did you know that I hadn't just gone back to America? Why were you looking for me?"

A smirk found its way to Shigure's face and he pulled two small card-like pieces from his sleeve, showing it to Kristi. "Do these look familiar?" "Gah!" Kristi exclaimed as she took the two items and looked at them before putting them into her own sleeve, "my credit card and my plane ticket!" "I had your credit card from the mall," Shigure nodded, "I know that you only have one since—well—I just know you too well. And then Tohru found the ticket on her bedroom floor the morning after you were kidnapped. I knew you couldn't have bought another one." "My, my," the girl chuckled, "Aren't we quite the sleuth?" "Only until night," Shigure joked.

Kristi opened her mouth for a comeback, but a pain shot through her mind. Closing her mouth and looking down, she held a couple of fingers lightly to her temple. "Tii-chan?" She tilted her head up, but while Shigure was in front of her, it wasn't him that she saw. Instead, it was a twenty-four-year old Hatori. She then saw him hold his hand over her face before everything blurred. "Tii-chan?" Images flashed dizzily before her eyes, things that she didn't know had happened to her. In the images, she had a slight feeling that she was happy; but at the moment, gravity was taking effect and she was brought down to the paved walk as the chair made a slight screech to accompany the light thud she made when she hit the ground.

_**I'm going now…**_


	12. Cold

The Curses' Cold Touch

.:♥:.

Disclaimer: If I owned Fruits Basket, this would not be a fanfic, now would it? I didn't think so.

.:♥:.

Summary: It's one of the breaks during Tohru's second year of high school and she's already been through a lot with the Sohmas. What happens when an old friend returns to reveal a similar curse? A relationship between the Sohmas and the other cursed family?

**In the last chapter**, Kristi finds a picture. In a book. That she made. A picture of her and Shigure at an event that, until now, she thought she had missed because of work. An important event. To make it even scarier for her that she didn't know about it, she was Senior Queen while Shigure was Senior King. Not wanting to get caught quite yet looking at the picture, she's hidden it in her sleeve before Shigure asks her to go to the same carnival that they went to years ago. But something happens to Kristi and even though Shigure is sitting right in front of her, she can't see him. What the hell…?

Author's Note: I'll be the first to note that this is probably a weird chapter… ¬¬;

12. fell out of her chair and hit the ground. Hard. The novelist quickly got up from his seat and kneeled next to Kristi. Without a second thought, he picked her up, but he noticed that her eyes were still open. The orbs that were usually bright and glossy were at the moment empty, lonely, sad, and everything else that he had previously known to be impossible for such a soul—cursed as it was. Kristi's eyes closed, allowing her mind's games to become more vivid. From the blinding darkness in her mind, she started to hear voices as though she had not heard them in ages. _"Tii-chan, you alright?" "Yeah, I'm fine."_

_On a wet sidewalk, a small motorcycle had just gone by after its operator had thrown a small burlap bag of sand at the American who was currently on her knees, resting her upper body weight on her right hand that was pressed onto the concrete. The projectile had hit her in the side of the head, knocking the circular glasses clear off her face. Without them, she couldn't see a thing. A sixteen-year-old Shigure was kneeling in front of her before he handed her the glasses. "He really doesn't like me, does he?" the sophomore chuckled as she put the glasses onto her face, realizing that the impact with the ground must have made them crooked as they no longer rested evenly on her face._

"Hey, Haa-san? Come quickly," Shigure's voice was heard, but as much as she wanted to wake up, she couldn't. "Yeah, it's Tii-chan. Alright. See ya."

_In the next display, Kristi was lying in her bed on her apartment with an ice pack resting on her forehead. Her cheeks were red, her breathe was shallow, and she was shaking. Shigure ran into the room, pushing the slightly ajar door open and Hatori stood in the doorway next to Ayame. "She's only fifteen," Hatori quietly said so that Shigure could not hear him, "but she's already been diagnosed with asthma, diabetes, and high blood pressure." "Tii-chan, hold on!" Shigure said, kneeling at the head of the bed to talk to the weak body, "the ambulance is on its way!"_

"It's about time you called me," Hatori's voice was heard and Kristi mentally smiled, "So, you were just sitting outside and she passed out?" "I think there's something wrong with her head," Shigure said in response, "And a few seconds after she passed out, her eyes were still open. They looked kind of sad."

Shigure and Hatori walked into the dog's room where Kristi was lying on his bed. An ice pack was on her forehead, her breaths were short, and her face was red. The two watched her for a few moments before Hatori glanced over to Shigure, "This reminds me of that Saturday afternoon at her apartment. What's it been? Twelve years since?" Shigure nodded, "History really _is_ repeating itself, isn't it?" "Exactly the same," Hatori said as he took a seat next to the bed and checked her temperature. His brows furrowed as he looked at the figures on the thermometer, "Well, it _was_ exactly the same.." "What's up?" Shigure asked, looking at the thermometer as well, "It's 99.1 Fahrenheit. Isn't that just a little high? Shouldn't she be okay?" "For one thing, you said that there might be something in her head," Hatori said, "But her average temperature is lower than the average person's." "What do you mean?" "Her average has always been somewhere around 94.1 while the norm is about 97.1 degrees. It'd be like a 102 degree fever for either of us."

About an hour later, Hatori put another ice pack on her forehead as the previous one had melted. "Nn…" "Kristi?" Kristi opened her eyes to see Hatori sitting on the chair next to the bed. "Tori-kun?" She tried to push herself up, but merely managed to move back towards the head of the bed a few inches. "Don't try to get up, Kristi," Hatori said, "You've got a fever of 97.6—it's gone down from the 99.1 it was before—and I checked your blood sugar and it's down to 81." Hatori gave her a small package wrapped in white napkins. She succeeded in sitting up and she opened it to find small pieces of chocolate, "Oh, thanks, Tori-kun." Kristi put a piece of chocolate in her mouth and let it melt, "So, my blood sugar is low? No wonder my dreams were so weird." "Dreams?" Hatori asked, raising a brow, while Kristi chuckled with another piece of chocolate in her mouth, "Yeah. You were there. Shi-kun and Aya-kun, too. It was the four of us and we were still in high school. It was like a memory, but I don't remember any of it happening. And then Sh—" Kristi paused for a moment to cut herself off before shaking her head, "Never mind. It was definitely the blood sugar acting up on me again." Hatori didn't say anything for a few moments before he stood up and walked out the door, "The climate here isn't good for you and you're not used to it anymore. Go back home, Kristi." Kristi watched in confusion as the door slid shut. "But…"

_**Because home is where the heart is…**_

"But I want to stay here…"


	13. A Curse in Itself

The Curses' Cold Touch

.:♥:.

Disclaimer: If I owned Fruits Basket, this would not be a fanfic, now would it? I didn't think so.

.:♥:.

Summary: It's one of the breaks during Tohru's second year of high school and she's already been through a lot with the Sohmas. What happens when an old friend returns to reveal a similar curse? A relationship between the Sohmas and the other cursed family?

**In the last chapter**, the girl woke up when Hatori and Shigure had determined that she had a pretty high fever. Yay! Of course, this is only after she had lots of visions in her head—but were they visions, memories, or just dreams? Kristi can't answer that either, but when Hatori finds out, he tells Kristi to go back to America. Hello to you, too, Hatori-san…

13.:♥:.A Curse in Itself.:♥:.13

As Hatori slid the door shut behind him, Shigure was about to go in. "Is she awake?" "Shigure, we need to talk," Hatori said as he took the back of Shigure's collar and walked towards the front room, dragging the dog behind him. "But I wanna see Tii-chan…!" "Quit whining. You'll see her soon enough."

"So, what do you have to tell me that's so important, Haa-san?" The two were sitting at the table. Hatori sighed once before explaining, "She's starting to remember everything, Shigure." Shigure's eyes widened, "Are you sure? But didn't you…?" "I did," Hatori said with a nod, "But my abilities can only go so far with one who is cursed." "Only go so far?" the dog repeated as the dragon continued to explain, "Lex called me before I came over and told me everything. Three years ago, I just suppressed any memories that involved any direct physical contact and anything with the two of you. Had Kristi been a normal person, this would have worked permanently, but since she's not, I'd have to—" Before Hatori could finished, Shigure stood up and started toward his room. "Shigure, you know I'm going to have to."

_**But there may not be a home…**_

Meanwhile, Kristi was sitting against the head board, chewing on another piece of chocolate. _I can't go back now. I came here to find out what happened to my memory,_ the girl thought, putting another chocolate in her mouth, _besides, I like it better here. Maybe I can move here and stay with Tohru-chan and everyone. That might be fun. This is more of a home to me that America is, anyway._ Kristi, because she was Gemini, was always made fun of by almost everyone, even if they didn't know about the curse. Kristi had always been indecisive and almost two faced in respect to the two spirits. Although in mythology, Castor and Pollux were almost the same in every aspect, fact begged to differ. _Tee hee. And then I can get married and…_ Red faced, Kristi giggled and lightly clapped her hands on her cheeks a few times. "Ah, Kristi, what're you thinking?" "Tii-chan?" "Huh?" A knock was heard on the door before it stood open, "How're you feeling?" "Much better! Thank you!" Kristi smiled as Shigure sat next to her on the bed, "Tori-kun gave me some chocolate 'cause my blood sugar was low. I think that's why I passed out with that fever." Kristi took the last piece of chocolate from the napkin and held it out to Shigure, "Want the last piece?" Shigure blinked a couple of times before he smiled and shook his head, "No, it's alright. You go ahead. You need it more than I do." "Alright," Kristi said as she popped it into her mouth and finished it. She paused for a few moments of silence before she looked over to Shigure.

"Look, I'm sorry for passing out like that. I didn't mean to. I guess I'm not a very good person to take out, huh? You carried me back here, right?" Shigure nodded, "don't worry about it Tii-chan. It's not like you meant to pass out or anything. Que será será, you know." Kristi chuckled, "You took French throughout high school and you still speak that phrase in Spanish. You're a strange dog." "You know, Tii-chan, even though you're a member of the _Western_ Curse, you're still a dog yourself. You're not exactly the shining example of normality, either," Shigure said as he leaned a little closer to her before he tilted his head towards her so that their foreheads lightly met, "…well, your fever's gone down a lot. I guess that chocolate really helped." Although Kristi's cheeks were pink from the now slight fever, the color deepened a little bit. "And you still blush at the smallest things, Tii-chan," Shigure smiled, their foreheads still touching, "You really _haven't_ changed in these three long years, have you? I still can't get passed the fact that you got green contacts, though." "So what if I still act like a high school girl, hm?" Kristi asked, trying to keep a serious face behind the still reddening blush. "You're still so cute when you try to act all serious like that," Shigure said, his left hand rising so that his fingers could trace along her jaw line to tilt her face closer to his own. _Shi…Shi-kun…?_

.:♥:.

Author's Note: UH OH, SPAGHETTI-O'S! o.O;;

PS – Let me be the first to say that the chapter title "Girl Interrupted" is not my own—it is the title of a movie made in 1999 starring Winona Ryder, Whoopi Goldberg, and Angelina Jolie, Brittany Murphy, and many more based on Susanna Kaysen's (played by Winona Ryder) 18-month stay at a mental hospital (even though the movie is far from what actually happened, though the people were real).

Actually, it's kinda funny, 'cause the song Que Será Será was played in the background during one of the scenes between characters Georgina and Susanna.


	14. If Only You Knew

The Curses' Cold Touch

Disclaimer: If I owned Fruits Basket, this would not be a fanfic, now would it? I didn't think so.

Summary: It's one of the breaks during Tohru's second year of high school and she's already been through a lot with the Sohmas. What happens when an old friend returns to reveal a similar curse? A relationship between the Sohmas and the other cursed family?

**In the last chapter**, Hatori and Shigure discuss matters over Kristi while she is in Shigure's room eating chocolate and raising her blood sugar. Turns out that Hatori had once supressed her memories, but since Kristi is cursed as well, the effect is wearing off. Shigure is none too fond of the discussion's path, so he gets up and leaves to join Kristi. Her school-girl personality, however, may prove to be just the right touch in this bit of romance we could possibly see?

14.:.If Only You Knew.:.14

_Shi...Shi-kun?_

"Shigure."

The door slid open, but not before Kristi could pull herself away from the dog and slop off the bed with a squeak. Kristi stood up and the two looked over to the door to see Hatori in the door way with his bag at his side, "Since Kristi is well enough to stand, I'm going back to the main house. Call me if you need anything, Kristi. Shigure, don't do anything stupid. And to let you know, Yuki and the others are back from school." "Oh!" Kristi exclaimed, just remembering, "I got you a few gifts from America! They're lying on the counter. Yours are the ones wrapped in dark grey!" By this time, though, Hatori had already started towards the front door, so Shigure got up and smiled once again. "I'll make sure that he gets them. You need anything?" "Ah, no, I'm fine, thank you!" With that, Shigure left the room as well. Kristi watched the door close for a few moments before her eyes narrowed. "So, that's how you got into the house before."

With a puff of black and red smoke, Alexis appeared in front of Kristi, displaying two of the differences between the two curses: they always return to their original forms dressed as how they were before and, on top of when in direct physical contact with a member of the opposite sex, they can transform at will. "At least _Kyo_ distances himself." "What's that supposed to mean?" Alexis sighed, "Kristi, you aren't the right person for this spot in the Zodiac." "Tell me you didn't come all this way to give me your pity," Kristi said, crossing her arms over her chest. Alexis could only smile, "Good answer. In any case, Hatori told me that you were unconscious, so I came over to check on you, make sure everything was alright. Remember what happened last time?" "Ugh," the Gemini shuddered a bit, "Don't remind me. I still have nightmares over that." "That poor paramedic," Alexis chuckled, "Anyway, someone's coming. I can feel Tohru's aura getting closer. Also, Kelly was really worried about you. I'll tell her everything's fine. I'm out." With another puff of smoke, a red scorpion crawled away and out a window as the door slid open once again. Sure enough, there was Tohru with that worried expression on her face.

"K-chan, you should be in bed...!" Not wanting to argue with the girl, she sat down, leaning her back against the headboard, and pulled the covers up to her lap. "You not hurt, are you? How are you feeling? Are you okay?" Kristi smiled at Tohru's barracade of questions, "Tohru-chan, my blood sugar was low, that's all. Despite what Shi-kun must have told you, I'm fine. You know how that silly dog likes to blow things out of proportion. What, did he say that I was dying or something?" "No, it's just that..." "How are you feeling, Kristi-san?" The two girls looked over to see Yuki who had just come into the room. "I'm just fine. Thank you, you two, for worrying about me." Within but a moment, Kristi's arms were wrapped playfully around Tohru's head while something of a squeak escaped her throat, "Kyaa, I feel so special!" Tohru laughed a bit ( which cause Yuki to smile ) with the happy and somehow blank-minded expression on her face.

Meanwhile, outside the hotel room, the black sedan parked and the cloaked Alexis stepped out. At the closing of the door, Kelly came out and met her in front of the door. "¿Cómo está mi hermana?" Kelly asked in Spanish so that Leigh would have no idea of what they were speaking about if she were to hear them. "Está bien. Fui solomente el nivel de azucár en su sangre, no más. Hatori estaba allí y se ayudó, pero ha dicho que ella está comenzando recocordar sus memorias," Alexis explained, gathering thegist that it was merely her blood sugar; however, Kristi was starting to remember everything. "¡Pero borrada las memorias!" Kelly said, forgetting about her volume as her face took on an expression of fear and concern. "No," Alexis sharply cut, giving Kelly the feeling that she had just been stabbed, "Él ha suprimido las memorias solomente y no más. Recuerde, su abilidades no son _ésa _bueno."

Author's Notes: I know, haven't written in a while. You all know how writer's block goes. ... If you don't, then I despise you with the bottom-most depths of my heart except not really. Anyway, as far as the Spanish goes, keep in mind that I have only taken Spanish for four years and I'm not that good at it ( four years of classes, one year of skill figures. ), so as far as this goes, here's what it means.

Kelly: How is my sister?

Alexis: She is well. It was only the level of the sugar in her blood, nothing more. Hatori was there and he helped her, but he'd said that she was starting to remember her memories.

Kelly: But he erased her memories!

Alexis: No. He only suppressed the memories, no more. Remember, his abilities are not _that_ good.

So there goes. I've probably desecrated the language as well as all the characters in writing this story, but oh well. x.x Now, onto the next chapter...


	15. Revolution

The Curses' Cold Touch

Disclaimer: If I owned Fruits Basket, this would not be a fanfic, now would it? I didn't think so.

Summary: It's one of the breaks during Tohru's second year of high school and she's already been through a lot with the Sohmas. What happens when an old friend returns to reveal a similar curse? A relationship between the Sohmas and the other cursed family?

**In the last chapter**, Hatori leaves when the three enthusiastic students come back from their day of school, but before Tohru and Yuki come in to see how Kristi is doing, the weak-bodied American receives a rather undescribable visit from her ever-so-cheery cousin arachnid Alexis who brings up what appears to be a mistake of the past. The Scorpio leaves before the two high school students come in and upon returning to the hotel room, both she and Kelly practice a little Spanish to dicuss Kristi without Leigh knowing. How clever.

15.:.Revolution.:.15

"Remember," Kelly mentally translated Alexis' words, "his abilities are good, but they are not _that_ good."

Later that night, Tohru and Kristi, both having changed into their pajamas, were sitting on Tohru's bed, playing cards and just talking about anything that came up. "Hee hee," Kristi chuckled, "Sorry I never got a chance to teach you how to play Dai Hin Min. I'm glad you were able to learn, though." "Yeah, Uo-chan and Hana-chan taught me," Tohru said as she looked at her hand of cards for a moment before smiling up at Kristi, "Oh, and speaking of Hana-chan and Uo-chan, they said they wanted to stop by one weekend and see you!" "Ooh, great!" Krsiti smiled as well, "I haven't seen those two since...well, since I left. Is Uo-chan's hair still bleached?" "Yeah, it is," Tohru nodded as she picked up a card, "She really likes it." "For good reason, too. How about the long skirt? Does she still wear that?" Once again, Tohru nodded. "It's a good look for her. What about Hana-chan? Is she still scaring people with electromagnetic waves and such?" Normally, or at least with a stranger, Tohru would have been hesitant to answer, but since Kriati had already met Saki and Tohru knew that she would not pass judgement, she answered, "She has a lot of our classmates afraid, especially the Yuki Fan Club Girls." "Ha ha!" Kristi laughed, "Yuki has a fan club? Why does that not surprise me? I remember, in junior high school, Kelly tried starting a fan club for this guy at school. Didn't become much of a success, though."

"Li-san is a member of the Horoscope, too, right?" Tohru asked, referring to Kelly. "That she is," Kristi nodded. "Really?" Tohru blinked a few times before smiling, "What sign is she? What does she turn into?" "She's a Taurus. Normally, she'd turn into a bull like my great uncle Eli did a couple of generations ago, but since she's a girl, she turns into a cow," the Gemini explained, "You haven't met them, but my cousin Alexis is a Scorpio, she turns into a scorpion, my cousin Jennifer turns into a fish -- she's Pisces -- and so on." "But, K-chan..." the high school girl started, "If you're a Gemini...when you touch a boy...what do you turn into? What happens?"

**_Am I heartless?_**

Kristi looked at the cards in her hand for several moments before donning an empty smile and showing her hand to the other girl.

"Revolution."

Author's Notes: Once again, I'm suffering from writer's block, blah blah blah. Sorry this chapter doesn't have much substance to it, but I guess you can just call it a filler -- maybe a reassurance that I'm still working on it? I dunno. This chapter seemed necessary and now seemed like a good a time as any to publish it.

Also, I don't exactly know the rules and such of Dai Hin Min, but I remember that "revolution" is a term used in the game when a character has a certain set of cards or whatever. I dunno.

Anyway, thanks for reading and sticking with me. You've got no idea of how much it means.

PS: Hopefully I'll write more soon -- it's not like one can do much else when one is sick. x.x


	16. Friends

The Curses' Cold Touch

Disclaimer: If I owned Fruits Basket, this would not be a fanfic, now would it? I didn't think so.

Summary: It's one of the breaks during Tohru's second year of high school and she's already been through a lot with the Sohmas. What happens when an old friend returns to reveal a similar curse? A relationship between the Sohmas and the other cursed family?

**In the last chapter**, Tohru and Kristi engage in a little conversation over a game of Dai Hin Min. During said conversation, however, Tohru seems to have struck a nerve, but as usual, Kristi brushes it off and continues the game. Right?

16.:.Friends.:.16

During their discussion, Tohru seemed to have struck a nerve when asking about Kristi's condition in the case that she would come into contact with a boy. Not wanting to linger on the subject, the school girl shifted the topic. After her loss in her game of Dai Hin Min with Kristi, they'd gone to bed, seeing as how it was already late and they wanted to get in a few hours of sleep before they'd awaken to greet the weekend.

"What the hell are _they_ doing here!" "K-Kyo-kun…"

Once again, familiar voices were filling her head, but as the Gemini was trying to recover from morning's spell of sleepiness, she'd come to realize that they were actually coming in through her ears rather than being generated by the memories in her head. "We said we'd come over to visit one weekend, so we're here," the woman heard a voice that could have only belonged to Arisa Uotani, the one she knew as Ari-chan. "Yes, we haven't seen Kristi for years and we had nothing planned for today, so we thought we'd stop by," she heard another voice add – this voice was that of the psychic wonder, Saki Hanajima, or Saki-chan as the nurse called her.

Before Kyo could even growl or Arisa could make yet another comment on the cat's orange hair, Tohru's two friends found themselves in the tired, yet enthusiastic embrace of the just-awoken American, "Ari-chan! Saki-chan! Long time no see, you two!" "How the hell does she _do_ that…?" Kyo muttered. It was a far cry from the first time he'd seen her appear out of nowhere to give someone a hug. Of course, he didn't know it, but she'd made her initial entrance a little over a week ago in the same fashion.

"Well, well, speak of the devil," Arisa smiled after the woman had freed the two school girls. "And speaking of Kristi, too," Saki continued, subtly recovering from Kristi's attack, "We didn't wake you, did we? Sorry." "Ah, if Kristi hasn't changed like Tohru says, she's already had enough sleep, anyway," the teenaged blonde pointed out, "Besides, this is _us_ we're talking about!" Seeing for herself that the two hadn't changed either, Kristi smiled, "This is great! We've got so much catching up to do. The four of us could go out for the day – my treat!" "Sounds great!" Arisa exclaimed while Saki smiled as this idea as well. As the fully awakened and refreshed Shigure entered the foyer to find what the noise was, there was yet another set of knocking at the door. Before the Dog could say anything, Tohru had opened the door to find three women waiting for their entrance.

"Well, isn't today going to be fun?" Shigure asked, being the only one, save Kristi, to remember the three ladies. "Um…" Tohru started, but before she could ask who they were, Kristi had already asked her own question. "What're you doing here?"

"Relax," Lex said, calming the woman's nerves. "We repeated last time's episode with Leigh, so we'll be fine." "Besides, we were really worried about you, Kristi," Mao-Lin admitted. "Worried?" Arisa repeated, "What happened?" "K-chan passed out on Monday," Tohru explained. "Yeah," Kristi nodded, "Low blood sugar, that's all." "We'll have to make sure that the same thing doesn't happen today, then," Saki nodded. "What? You guys are going somewhere?" Kelly asked. "That's right, Li-san," Tohru smiled, "K-chan said she'd take the three of us out for the day. "Sounds fun," Kelly replied, "And no –san, though. _Li-chan_ will work well enough." "Three of us," Lex muttered, looking at the three teenaged girls, "Care for an introduction, Kristi?" "Oh, right," Kristi remembered before pointing to each friend as she said her name, "Arisa Uotani, Saki Hanajima, Tohru Honda, Alexis Buhay, Kelly Prince, and Mao-Lin Ling. Lex and Lin are my cousins and Kelly is my little sister. I told you guys about them." "Of course," Saki recalled. Arisa followed suit shortly after, "Oh, that's right! You'd always compare Tohru, Hana, and me to Mao-Lin, Alexis, and Kelly!" "You weren't special, either?" Kelly smiled at Arisa, Saki, and Tohru, "The woman wouldn't shut up about you three!"

"Anyway!" Kristi abruptly changed the subject, but not very well, "Weren't we gonna go somewhere? Gimme a sec to change and I'll be right out." "You ladies can wait in the living room if you want," Shigure offered, "Besides, I might want to come, too." "You too?" Kristi asked before turning to Kyo, "About 'bout you, Kyo?" Kyo, however, had already left long ago, not too much after the woman had come down to greet her classmates. "Guess carrot-top doesn't wanna come," Arisa muttered, getting a bit of a nod from Saki.

It wasn't much longer that they eight had left Sohma property. "So, where to first?" Kelly asked, looking at Kristi. "I dunno," the nurse shrugged, "but the four of you are paying for yourselves." Kristi, of course, was referring to Kelly, Lex, Lin, and Shigure. "Of course," Lex nodded, "It's not like you invited us or anything." "Hey, now, don't make me looking like the bad guy!" "How about we just wing it?" The others looked to Arisa. "Wing it?" Saki asked. "Yeah," the girl nodded, "Just whatever comes up. No planning." "Spontaneity," Lin muttered, "Sure, sounds good." "Then, wing it, it is!"

The hours seemed to pass in the fast lane as the day went on with or without the group. They'd gone to the carnival, the same one from earlier that week, gone shopping, and even managed to get the disgruntled Kristi to buy them dinner. Because it was still summer, they still had about an hour or two before the sun would about them for the Western Hemisphere.

"So, what now?" Kristi asked the three girls sitting at the table with her while the four other _adults_ were at the counter, spending more of Kristi's money. "How about we go visit Kyoko?" Arisa suggested, "Just the four of us. Just like old times, the five of us all together again! So to speak." "But what about Shigure-san, Li-chan, Lex-chan, and Lin-chan?" Tohru asked. "Can we just leave them here?" "They'll be fine," Kristi sighed, "Besides, they're spending my money. A little revenge would be nice." Thus, without the four others knowing quite yet, Arisa, Kristi, Saki, and Tohru had left for Kyoko's grave; but only after leaving a note for the others as per Tohru's request.

**_No matter._**


	17. Family

The Curses' Cold Touch

Disclaimer: If I owned Fruits Basket, this would not be a fanfic, now would it? I didn't think so.

Summary: It's one of the breaks during Tohru's second year of high school and she's already been through a lot with the Sohmas. What happens when an old friend returns to reveal a similar curse? A relationship between the Sohmas and the other cursed family?

**In the last chapter**, Kristi, Shigure, and Tohru are joined by their friends Arisa, Saki, Kelly, Lex, and Mao-Lin. On a fun day out, the two groups – Arisa/Kristi/Saki/Tohru and Kelly/Lex/Mao-Lin/Shigure – were separated blissfully at a restaurant when the mostly younger group decides to visit their late friend Kyoko.

17.:.Family.:.17

"Here we are," Tohru said as the four of them looked over the area. A few people were scattered here and there, most likely visiting loved ones, just as the four friends had planned to do. "It's cozy," Kristi muttered, not sure if she'd intended for the others to hear, "not too big, but not too cramped." "Just being here," Saki started, "with you back, Kristi, brings back so many memories." "Tell me about it," Arisa laughed, "The memories keep on coming back." "And we still haven't even reached Mom yet," Tohru said with one of her usual smiles. They were merely standing there at the bottom of the steps that would gradually lead up to Kyoko and the others at the temple ground. The other spoke and Kristi smiled, "You guys go ahead and warn Kyoko-san that I'm here. I'll be up there in just a moment." "Are you sure, K-chan?" Tohru asked, "Are you okay?" "Yeah, I'm fine," Kristi said, looking the stairs up and down, "I've just gotta regain a little more energy before I take on these stairs. Feeling a bit weak, that's all. Please don't wait up on me." "Alright," Arisa said, "but if something happens, use that sonic screech of yours." Being a smile, Kristi nodded before the three started up the stairs. Once there were out of sight, Kristi was allowed to access the memories available to her.

Through the darkness of the night, a ringing was heard. The woman's hand clumsily found the snooze button on her alarm clock, but no matter how many times she pressed it, the ringing would not stop. Finally, realizing from where the ring was coming, Kristi pulled a dangling string to turn the short table lamp on before answering her phone. "Hello?" Kristi sleepily asked before hearing the monotonous voice of the operator. "Hello. This is a collect call from…" "Tohru Honda," cried a weeping voice from the other end of the line. "Do you wish to accept charges?" "Yeah, sure." Kristi muttered, waking herself up after hearing Tohru's voice. "Charges accepted. Thank you for using – " The operators voice was cut off when the system message ended. "Tohru-chan?" the tired woman asked, "What's wrong, honey? Are you okay?" "I'm okay, and I'm sorry for waking you," Tohru cried into the receiver, "But Mom! She's…!" Though Kristi said nothing to interrupt her, she cut herself off since she didn't need to have said anything more. Lightning struck and the light went out with a pop, but Tohru's crying could be heard to accompany Kristi's own.

The woman sighed as her attention was reverted back to the world around her. She hadn't moved, so she was still watching the steps as if half-expecting them to do a trick. "Having fun?" Kristi was about to answer the question coming from a voice behind her, but she realized that something was horribly wrong.

"You!" the nurse half-growled as she turned around. Before her stood her older sister, only this time, she had no cigarette. "Aren't you happy to see me, Kristen?" Leigh asked her, "After all, you must've been so busy before if you had to leave so suddenly the last time we had the pleasure of seeing each other." "Leigh, what the _hell_ are you doing here!" Kristi kept her tone in the back of her throat as she tired not to raise her volume. "Why, visiting with my darling little sister, of course!" Kristi had always hated Leigh, but as much as she loathed her, she'd never shown it to its fullest extent. This time, however, seemed to be a little different. "This place is that on which Kyoko-san's grave lies," Kristi continued to growl in a more threatening persistence as the moments befell, "He _dare_ you come here and defile these grounds with your presence? I _demand_ that you leave at once!" "Kristen…" Leigh smiled before stepping closer, taking her kimono where the hems crossed to pull the younger sister near enough to whisper in her ear, "You speak to me like I'm some sort of evil being." Though Kristi had always been rather fond of the cold, she felt her body freeze tens of times over. She tried to suppress it, but even still, her eyes seemed to quiver in fear. "Y-you're…" "Come no, Kristen," Leigh calmly beckoned, "We have nice hotel room where we can have a nice conversation over a nice cut of hot Ramen. You can tell me _all_ about your trip."

**_Help me…_**

****Leigh's free hand rose, but before she could touch the locket, Kristi's fist cut through the air before coming into sharp contact with her sister's jaw. The force of the blow pushed Leigh to take a few steps back, holding her jaw to find that nothing had been damaged or dislocated. "_You're_ the evil one, Leigh," Kristi said as her eyes beamed with anger, "In fact, you're _twice_ as evil as I shall _ever_ be!" With her latter sentence, she sped forward and grabbed Leigh's collar, much as she'd done to Kristi. Despite her eternally cool composure, Kristi's actions brought Leigh to flash an expression never seen on the woman's face – the expression of fear. "Leave."

Tii-chan!

Kristi's eyes widened and she let her sister go before stepping back once again, as if she'd just woken up. Leigh was the first to notice their company, so her composure was quickly replaced as if nothing had happened. Kristi then looked over to see four others standing on the edge of the sidewalk as a taxi cab drove off. "Sh-Shi-kun!" the woman muttered as if surprised, "Kelly, Lex, Lin…what're you…?" "Well, Shigure Sohma-san," Leigh said, hiding once again behind her aloof attitude that'd temporarily dropped. "Leigh," the Dog acknowledged her with her name and a subtle nod. He wasn't exactly happy to see her either. "What a pleasant surprise," she lied, "And you brought my cousins and sister, too. I keep forgetting how kind you Sohma are." Seeing as how they'd both returned to their normal states, Kristi just stood there, watching Leigh and hoping she'd overlook her spontaneous burst. Unlikely, but Leigh wouldn't have done much in public. "Come, you three," Leigh directed, walking toward their car and waiting for them by the sidewalk, "I've taken a rather fond liking to the Ramen we've been having lately."

While Leigh walked away to the car, the sorrowed kin followed after, solemnly nodding to both Shigure and Kristi as they passed them. When the four had gotten into the car before it disappeared behind a hill of asphalt, another unexpected voice was heard. "K-chan…?" "Tohru-chan," Kristi said as both adults turned their attention to the girl at the top of the stairs, "How long have you been there…?" "Uo-chan and Hana-chan are with Mom," Tohru explained as she gingerly descended, "I came back to see if you were alright, but then… I'm sorry, I didn't mean to spy or anything, but I saw everything. That woman… was she…?" "Leigh Hall," Shigure told her, "The Libra." "Wait, but then she's…" "My big sister," Kristi spat those three words to the ground – if only she could. "But I must admit, Tii-chan, what you didn't wasn't very…" Shigure paused and, in lack of a better word, continued, "…you." The woman nodded, "I know. I – " Once again, Kristi fell forward as her consciousness had found a liking to leaving her in mid-sentence as of late. "K-chan!"


	18. Kristi's Role

The Curses' Cold Touch

Disclaimer: If I owned Fruits Basket, this would not be a fanfic, now would it? I didn't think so.

Summary: It's one of the breaks during Tohru's second year of high school and she's already been through a lot with the Sohmas. What happens when an old friend returns to reveal a similar curse? A relationship between the Sohmas and the other cursed family?

**In the last chapter**, while visiting Kyoko's grave, Kristi is reminded of the night she found out about Kyoko's death before finding company with her older sister. After a strange conflict, the two are parted when the other four adults arrive. With Tohru having seen everything and Shigure realizing what'd happened, Kristi speaks and passes out. YET AGAIN!

18.:.Kristi's Role.:.18

"SHE _HIT_ HER!"

"Y-yes…" Tohru timidly nodded to the Taurus who'd shot up from her seat in shock. The five of them – Tohru, Shigure, Alexis, and Mao-Lin – were currently in Shigure's living room while the topic of their discussion would be in Tohru's room, recovering from the previous day. "Calm yourself, Kelly, and sit down," Alexis instructed before returning to their subject, "It that is the case, then Kristi's true form has indeed awakened, even if it was for that brief moment." "K-chan's…true form…?" "Yes," Mao-Lin began to explain, "Kristi's transformation has always been complicated. Because she's possessed by two spirits, Castor and Pollux, she turns into either an Angelic of Demonic being, depending on how she is on the overall light/dark scale." "But Castor and Pollux…they were the twins," Tohru muttered, "Weren't they inseparable, even in death, because of their bond? You make it sound as if they're eternally fighting each other in K-chan…" "I do," the new-graduate agreed, "And they are.

"According to legend, though they were twins, one was immortal while the other was mortal. This was because they shared the same mother, Leda, but they had different fathers: Castor's father was Tyndareus, the king of Sparta at the time, while Pollux' father was the great Zeus, head of the gods. This is all according to Greek mythology. Anyway, says legend that the twins were extremely close. Even when Castor was killed, Pollux the immortal begged that the gods would take his life so that he could be with his bother. This, however, is the Sunday-school edition meant to raise people's morale. In reality, Castor was extremely jealous of Pollux' immortality and overall skill at everything. Fueled by his envy, he made a deal with Hades, the ruler of the Underworld; however, Castor was unaware of his part of the deal. Hades would take Pollux' life, landing his spirit in the heavens with Zeus, but in return, the dark ruler would seize Castor's soul, giving the sign both yin and yang."

"So, what's supposed to happen?" the school girl enquired. "Since Gemini is both light and dark, the Western Zodiac is too light. Though it _sounds _like it'd be a _good_ thing, it messed up the balance, throwing the entire system into chaos," Kelly explained over her tea, "That's where Leigh comes in. Leigh, as you both know, represents Libra, the scales. It's her job to balance things out, thus placing her at the head of the curse. If what you say you heard is true, that's why Kristi said that Leigh was twice as evil as she'd ever be. I know it sounds easy, but there's another catch to the curse. The Gemini can't know _any_ of this, lest it'd be too easy. Besides, if she was to ever learn about these things, she would undoubtedly turn to her true form, dooming this family to the curse forever." "Her true form…" Tohru repeated once, "You keep mentioning it. What exactly…_is_ her true form?"

"Unfortunately for this generation of the cursed members of this family…" Alexis started before bluntly finishing her sentence, "Kristi, despite the curse and its effects, she's always turned to Pollux' spirit, the Angelic, when she'd transform. She could never adopt two spirits at once, so she'll turn into one or the other. That's just the way it is. Anyway, because of this, Castor's spirit has not had a chance to vent, thus building everything up on the disgruntled spirit. Gemini is supposed to be dark (light and dark alternate if you put the signs in order, starting with Aries/dark), but because Castor's spirit has been pent up all this time, we fear his awakening in Kristi. That's why she can _never_ know of this. As Castor…who _knows_ what chaos she'd cause?"

**_Please…_**

"It's not right." "Huh?" Once again, the attention was turned to Tohru. "It's not fair that she has to do that. K-chan is such a wonderful person," she said, "but she has to turn dark so that the curse can rest? That's not fair and it isn't right. Mom and K-chan were really good friends: best friends. I know that the last thing Mom would want would be for K-chan to do that." Once Tohru was finished, a voice was heard from the other side of the door separating the room from the hallway. It was a stressed voice. "Ahh!"

The five quickly got up and rushed to slide the door open. There, they found Kristi, kneeling on the ground. She was doubled over, holding her arms, and shivering. No words were necessary to express the pain she was feeling.


	19. To the Darkness: Castor's Wings

The Curses' Cold Touch

Disclaimer: If I owned Fruits Basket, this would not be a fanfic, now would it? I didn't think so.

Summary: It's one of the breaks during Tohru's second year of high school and she's already been through a lot with the Sohmas. What happens when an old friend returns to reveal a similar curse? A relationship between the Sohmas and the other cursed family?

**In the last chapter**, the three Westerners were once again at Shigure's, discussing with Tohru and Shigure about Kristi's role in their family's curse. Right after saying that Kristi wasn't allowed to know any of it, they find the worst person to have been eavesdropping on them. Kristi!

19.:.To the Darkness: Castor's Wings.:.19

"Tii-chan!"

"K-chan!"

Both kneeled by her, one at either side. "_Damnit_, she was eavesdropping!" Alexis cursed at no one, but maybe Kristi. "She's in pain…!" Tohru announced, just in case someone hadn't been paying attention, "What do we do!" "There's nothing we _can_ do," Kelly said, watching her older half-sister, "She heard it all and now she's taking her true form." _But if she takes her true form,_ Tohru remembered, _then she'll become dark…_ "Tii-chan, you _can't_!" Shigure told her as he'd just realized the same thing, "You can't do that! You have to fight it!" "G-get…" Kristi weakly muttered through clenched teeth, "I-I don't wanna hurt anyone! G-get away…!" Shigure was about to grab her shoulders, but black wins spread from within the same moment that she'd jumped up, piercing through the roof, and beating her wings against the air to take off. "Tii-chan!" It wasn't but a second later that Shigure had run out the door after her. "Shigure, don't go! There's nothing you can do!" By this time, however, he'd already left. "Curses," Alexis muttered, but just about as she was ready to pursue him, a voice came from the entrance. "Wait." "Hatori-san!"

"Tii-chan!" Shigure called as he wandered about the area, searching for his friend. Finally, he saw a figure crouched down by a stream, but had it not been for the large bat-like wings, he would not have recognized her. Her hair, still brown, had grown to just below her waist line while her eyes, now cold and narrow, had adopted a piercing shade of golden-yellow. At the ends of her fingers, her nails had grown to resemble talons, but Shigure's eyes widened as he came to realize that they blood dripping off of them was her own – her sleeves were tattered and bloody lacerations adorned her arms as if she'd gotten into a fight with some sort of wild cat. Still, she was holding her arms, just as she'd been doing when they'd found her eavesdropping, but this time, she wasn't in as much pain.

"Tii-cha— " "Stay away!" The woman stood up and turned to face Shigure as she warned him behind newly acquired fangs. Despite her appearance, Shigure stepped toward the Gemini, though this action was extremely hesitant. "Does she scare you?" asked a voice from behind. "Leigh," Shigure recognized the voice as he turned to see that she was watching Kristi as well. "It wouldn't surprise me if she did," Leigh continued calmly, her eyes still on the other woman, "After all, I'm her older sister and I'm terrified. Unlike you, however, I _have_ to face her." _Believe it or not…_ Leigh thought to herself, _I'm the good guy in this story._

"You know, it's Gemini's fault that there even _is_ a curse. It's Castor's fault," Leigh said once she'd gotten within a few yards of Kristi, "It's _your_ fault." "Don't you _dare_ go placing the blame on me, y'damn Libra. _You're_ the one who's supposed to take care of it," the possessed Kristi snarled. "You know what I have to do, don't you?" "Of course I do," Kristi nodded, "but if you think I'm gonna let you win, you're clearly mistaken." "Then, let's end this, Kristen." "That I shall." As Kristi and Leigh would engage in their fight (they seemed almost equally matched – reminded Shigure of how Kyo and Haru would sometimes fight), the Dog would watch, suddenly recalling words from the cursed meeting so many years ago.

"There are two ways this fight can end," a younger Leigh explained, "Case one, Libra would claim victory in ending the Gemini's life as Castor. On the other hand, if Gemini wins, Libra's life will end and Castor will have prevailed. Either way, the sign will be secured in darkness."

_So, to end this fight, Tii-chan has two choices,_ Shigure finalized, _She can either become dark or die. … I don't want her to…_ "Tii-chan! You can't be in this fight!"

**_Before it's too late…_**


	20. The Flood Rushes Back

The Curses' Cold Touch

Disclaimer: If I owned Fruits Basket, this would not be a fanfic, now would it? I didn't think so.

Summary: It's one of the breaks during Tohru's second year of high school and she's already been through a lot with the Sohmas. What happens when an old friend returns to reveal a similar curse? A relationship between the Sohmas and the other cursed family?

**In the last chapter**, Kristi has taken her true form as Castor's incarnation and flew off. As Alexis was about to chase Shigure who'd rushed after her, Hatori shows up and tells her not to go. Meanwhile, Shigure, hesitant over Kristi's new appearance, encounters Leigh who explains what must occur in engaging in battle. ... Wait... What the hell? Leigh's a _good _guy!

20.:.The Flood Rushes Back.:.20

"Tii-chan! You can't be in this fight!" "Yes, she can," Leigh cooly said as she'd managed to land a punch in return for the previous day's blow. As Kristi fell back to the ground, Leigh pushed the heel of her hand into the younger sister's shoulder, pinning her down as she fixed her other hand over her throat. Kristi choked for a second or two, but pushed her older sister off of her by forcing her fist to rise and collide with the woman's chest. When the Libra gracefully got up, the Gemini scrambled to her feet and rammed her shoulder into Leigh's stomach, forcing her to the ground. With Leigh pinned, the tables had turned, and Kristi pulled her free hand back, curling it into a tight fist. "It's finally time for Castor to do what Pollux never could!"

"So, K-chan..." "She can never fall in love," Hatori nodded. "But why not?" "Love is something of the light," Mao-Lin explained, "And Kristi has to be dark. If Gemini was to fall in love, then Gemini would be of the light." "That's the reason I had to suppress her memories the last time. She was happy. She'd found the man she truly loved and she thought that the curse would have never gotten in the way of that, but it was _because_ of the curse that I had to do it." "But even if you suppress her memories, K-chan will still be in love with this man, won't she?" "Despite what society portrays," Kelly started, "Love is merely an idea formed in the mind. It has nothing to do with the heart. It's just another mental sentiment like fear or anger. You know, it's the same thing as how people will use hypnotism to suppress their fears. They forget about it." "Apparently," Alexis continued, "the suppression of the memories on us curséd members doesn't work as well." "So you'll just have to suppress those same memories again, right?"

_I know I'm not supposed to interfere, but..._ "Tii-chan, you can't!" Shigure exclaimed as he made his way over and pulled Kristi up and off of Leigh. "And why the hell not!" _I'm **really **not supposed to be doing this..._ "Because..."

**_I don't want to have to say..._**

"I love you."

Kristi's eyes widened at those words, but softened, adopting their normal color as Shigure tilted her chin up and gave her a kiss. Within but a moment, four months, two weeks, six days, and seventeen hours worth of memories flooded back into her mind. Dizziless circles on the dance floor, babysitting the young Sohmas, the Ferris wheel at the carnival, and even her first kiss. They were all there. She could even remember how the Sohmas found out about her family's curse that fateful day in her old apartment. "You and me," Kristi began as they parted, "I remember. We were..." It was then that the final wave of memories came back. A slightly younger Shigure -- around 24 years of age -- was down on one knee, holding Kristi (who was standing in front of him wuth the signature blush on her face) by the hand. "After I finished med-school, we were supposed to have gotten married," Kristi recalled, "But neither of our curses would allow it, so Tori-kun had to erase my memory..." _It was the curses' cold touch..._


	21. Departure and Two Misplaced Memories

The Curses' Cold Touch

Disclaimer: If I owned Fruits Basket, this would not be a fanfic, now would it? I didn't think so.

Summary: It's one of the breaks during Tohru's second year of high school and she's already been through a lot with the Sohmas. What happens when an old friend returns to reveal a similar curse? A relationship between the Sohmas and the other cursed family?

**In the last chapter**, just when Kristi is about to win the fight and seal away the family's curse, Shigure interferes and the nurse (previously his fiancé) remembers why she'd lost her memories.

21.:.Departure and Two Misplaced Memories.:.21

"You realize what this means, do you not?" Hatori asked, not even sure to which he was directing such inquisition. "I do," Kristi was the one to answer, "All of my memories of this have to go into hiding…" "Not only that," Shigure regretfully corrected her, "But all of your memories of ever coming to Japan at all have to go, too." "NO!"

The seven adults looked over to Tohru who'd almost slapped her hands on the table. "I mean…" Tohru collected herself, turning a sad gaze to the table, "Does that mean that she'll forget about Mom, and Uo-chan, and Hana-chan, and…" Tohru cut herself off when Kristi, at the moment half-kneeling behind her, lightly wrapped her arms around the girl's shoulders. Uncharacteristically serious, the woman spoke, "It has to be done." Tohru opened her mouth to refute the inevitable, but Kristi continued, "Otherwise, this fighting will go on forever and people will get hurt. I don't want that."

"It would be best of all of us if we all just went back to America," Alexis said, "That way, none of this can happen again. We can leave the fight up to the next generation. Maybe then, the cursed members will be stronger and able to fulfill the curse." "Maybe." Kelly agreed, "But we can only hope, just like the last generation did." "It's a stupid curse," Mao-Lin nodded, referring to both curses.

"I'm sorry this has caused so many problems for all of you," Leigh apologized, surprising Kristi with the fact that she was indeed a good guy playing an evil role in order to carry on with the curse, "It's a shame we can't prolong this – just the way things are now." "It's also I shame I couldn't hang with the Mabudachi Trio a bit longer, too," Kristi sighed almost jokingly, summoning a bit of a smile from both Hatori and Shigure. "A shame indeed," the Dragon agreed as well before dutifully having the tension rise once more, "But as much as I hate to interrupt the good time we're having, are you ready?"

Kristi, at this question, hesitated before speaking once again, "I don't like to say good-bye since it _is_ a small world, but I do have one last thing to say, mainly to Tohru-chan…" The woman let Tohru go before the girl turned to face Kristi. "What is it, K-chan?"

"When we first parted, Kyoko-san gave me a message, and not that we part once more, I give you that very same message: No matter what happens, the best is yet to come. Things have their ways of settling themselves out." "K-chan…" Teary-eyed, Tohru leaned forward and gave Kristi yet another hug. Silence, and then a sigh.

"I'm ready now, Tori-kun…" Hatori didn't want to erase her memories yet again, but he raised his hand, allowing his palm to cover her eyes. Tohru, who'd scooted back, watched as the tears rolled down her cheeks. Sending tears out of her eyes as well, Kristi squeezed her eyes tightly shut before feeling a pair of arms wrap around her shoulders from behind. It was Shigure. "I'm sorry," she said, lightly holding onto his wrist in response to the hug, "But, please, don't forget me, Shi-kun. Because I love you, too." Shigure's hug tightened around her as he replied, "I know. And I won't. I promise."

With that, there was a slight flash before Kristi's hand dropped to her lap and she leaned back into Shigure, showing that she was unconscious a her most beloved memories rushed back into the forgotten catacombs of her mind.

**_Good-bye…_**

A few hours later, the women would leave for the next flight out with their Gemini for America; however, they knew not of the locket around her neck or the folded photograph in her sleeve.

In case you haven't noticed (though I'm sure you have since you're all _very_ bright readers), in most of the chapters, there are lines that are italicized and in bold. I don't really know why I put them in there except for the fact that I can now put the entire thing together thing together at the end. I put it together as Kristi's prayer to her dearly departed friend Kyoko. … So here it is.

_Oh, Kyoko-san, stay with me, even after I've forgotten everything. I'm going now because home is where the heart is, but there may not be a home. Am I heartless? No matter. Help me, please, before it's too late. I don't want to have to say good-bye._

And, thus, with a kiss, I die. Or end the story. Something like that. What a cheesy way to end. Flames her own story.

Anyway, sorry it took so long for me to get the last chapter up. I don't really have an excuse other than the fact that I suck. Whoops. Anyway, I left a nice opening for a sequel (hinthintnudgenudgenotreallyasecret), so I'll work on that when I feel like it. So yeah, thanks for reading, I love you all, especially the ones who've been leaving _productive_ comments (coughcough). So yeah. See y'all in my next fic.


End file.
